


Rise

by Mossy_Hills



Category: Divergent (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Dauntless Faction, Dauntless Faction Initiation, Dauntless leadership, Eric (Divergent) Being an Asshole, Eric Coulter - Freeform, Eric meets his match, Erudite Faction, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, F/M, Jai Courtney - Freeform, Jai Courtney fanfiction, No Divergents, No other Divergent cast members, POV Eric (Divergent), POV Multiple, Smut, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:07:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 40,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24104146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mossy_Hills/pseuds/Mossy_Hills
Summary: Fawn Remington has one goal. Rise through the ranks in Dauntless, secure a position in Leadership, and bring needed change to the city before it's over-run by Factionless rebels. Her only obstacle? Eric Coulter.Eric is committed to producing hardened, loyal soldiers in his own relentless, degrading ways. Soldiers that act upon command. Soldiers that know their place. The security of the entire city rests on his ability to train an army capable enough to keep it's citizens safe.His most recent string of initiates are like any other he'd had in the past... Except one. The one that stirred his instincts the moment he saw her.Fawn isn't going to be just another soldier. They both know it. And as they battle it out for the upper hand, their resentment toward each other grows into a burning need not only to conquer each others minds, but each others bodies.With the Factionless growing stronger by the day, Eric and Fawn know it is going to take more than brawn to defeat them.
Relationships: Eric (Divergent)/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Comments: 64
Kudos: 174





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Fawn Remington stood shoulder to shoulder, rigid and steady, next to her fellow initiates, clad in all black, some with their newly chosen names as the leaders of her new faction followed the line of potential soldiers, scrutinizing each and every one of them.

"Weak." The big one, Eric, said with a bored sigh as he moved closer toward her position in line.

A stout man scribbled away on a clipboard after each of Eric's comments, taking notes on each initiate. None of them had been positive so far and now she was two people away from her turn to be judged.

_ Take it objectively, Fawn. Use his impression to reach your first goal. _

"Ainsley Scott" the stout man said. Fawn had concluded his name didn't matter much. If he was holding the clipboard and not using his judgement on the initiates, she didn't need to waste her time studying him. It was imperative to know all she could about her fellow initiates and prominent leaders in order to rise in the ranks. Knowing the competition was critical to win. The stout man posed no threat to her goals.

"Soft." Eric voiced with disappointment as he passed Ainsley without second thought and Stout feverishly wrote the assessment.

Eric. She memorized his name the moment he introduced himself to the initiates before they blindly leapt from the edge of a building. Eric was undoubtedly important. He radiated power and influence. The neck tattoos and piercings added to the intimidation factor. Initiates and leaders alike made way for him as he moved about. Eric didn't wait for Dauntless. Dauntless waited for Eric.

If she derived all of that by watching him for 20 seconds, what would he derive from her?

"Lex Mitchell."

Lex's arm vibrated against her shoulder. He stood over 6 inches above her, but despite his size, fear resonated from him.

"Fearful." Eric spat with the most disgust she'd heard from him yet.

She braced herself harder, mentally preparing for her evaluation. Body straight, eyes forward, blank expression. They wanted soldiers, not personality.

"Fawn Remington." her name was announced. But, an expected instant response did not come.

Silence.

Agonizing milliseconds of silence ensued before he spoke.

"Fawn?" Eric snorted with what she could only describe as amusement.

His eyes weighed heavy on her, but she fought the urge to meet his gaze. 

"Let me guess… Amity." He mused, looking back to Stout.

"Erudite." The man read from his clipboard.

_What is going on? We aren't supposed to discuss our old factions._ Every other initiate had one word responses. She desperately tried not to shift her stance, wondering why he was spending so much time on her. Yet, she remained unwavering, awaiting her critique.

She caught Eric's pierced brow arch from her peripheral vision. "An Erudite transfer to Dauntless with an Amity name. This should be good…” his mumble dripped with sarcasm. “Should have thought about giving that name the old heave-ho when you got here." he scoffed, as his eyes traveled down her one last time before moving on to the next initiate.

"Changing my name won't change who I am." she responded instantly after. The words came out so fast, her brain never processed it until it was too late. 

Eric's body stopped, mid-motion and back stepped, bringing himself close enough to feel the heat radiating from his chest on her shoulder. "You want to run that past me again?" he growled so deep she felt it in her belly.

_ Shit _ . Her first slip up.

He was waiting for an apology. She knew it. But she wasn't going to give him one. Apologies signified submission and fear of guilt. She refused to show any kind of fear and submission was a weakness.

… Even though the man that stood before her made her knees tremble.

These leaders fed on fear and weaknesses. It was their job to whittle out the weak ones before precious resources got wasted on them. 

She kept her focus forward, avoiding eye contact. “The name that I was born with doesn't change the fact that I was meant to become Dauntless. Choosing a new one wouldn't make a difference...” she answered with confidence, then brought her eyes to the most spectacular shade of blue she'd ever seen and finished her response with a respectful “Sir.”

Eric remained emotionless as those eyes burned through her. “You just saved yourself, initiate.” Then stepped away, keeping a lingering eye on her. “Don't let it happen again.”

She waited until he was out of earshot before blowing out the collected breath trapped in her lungs and her eyes moved to the side, catching the line of heads, focused in her direction in utter shock.

A fresh initiate talking back to a prominent leader? Big no-no.

Great. This was not how she planned her initiation to go. Her objective was to simply rise in the ranks quickly and quietly. She knew from when she was small that she belonged in a leadership role. With her Erudite upbringing and Dauntless training, she could become incredibly powerful and finally bring the needed change to all the factions. 

The city had been stagnant for years and the factionless were becoming increasingly bold. Something had to give before a revolt developed.

Eric continued with his assessments. Most negative and degrading, very few hinting at hidden potential.

Wait. What was his assessment on her? He never gave one. Damn it. How was she supposed to progress if she didn't know what to work on?

_ Stick with the strategy. Slip ups will happen. Don't let this define you, Fawn. _

After the assessment, they were led to the training room. An impossibly large, warehouse-like space filled with mats and bags and sections designated for marksmanship.

Dauntless born were already at work with their training. Multiple circles of bodies crowded around two fighters. Leaders shouted at them to correct their form and get back up after getting knocked down. The clanging of knives echoed in the background.

She took in as much as she could. Analyzing. Processing. This was her life now and she had to conquer it.

As Eric halted his stride, her group of initiates stopped behind him in unison. 

He clasped his hands behind his back, pacing the length of the group. "This is where you will be training. Extensively. Get used to it. This is your home now-" 

An eager blonde guy that had been at Eric's heels all day piped up with enthusiasm. "When do we begin?"

Jakob was his name. Was the first to bravely take the jump from the rooftop ledge when Eric asked for a volunteer. Fawn made sure to take note of Jakob.

Eric stopped his pacing, shooting a laser beam stare at him. "When I tell you." he bit out before continuing. "Training is strenuous and tedious. Those who are able to complete their training will move on to the next phase of initiation."

" _ Able _ to complete training?" A girl asked from the back or the group.

Eric came to a hard stand, facing them all. "This isn't your old factions. Your hands will not be held throughout this process. You chose us… Now we get to choose you."

"And if we aren't able to complete training?" said another voice from the side.

"Well… there's no going back to your families… So I guess that means you'll end up factionless." he said without a care.

A hushed gasp raced through the group.

A red-headed Candor girl raised her concern. "Why didn't anyone tell us this?"

Eric's eyes shot toward her. "Does it matter? Would you have chosen differently if you had?"

The group remained silent, many avoiding eye contact with the scowling leader as he scanned his initiates, looking for more mouths to pipe up, briefly meeting Fawn's gaze, then continued his pacing. "If you're truly Dauntless, this shouldn't be a concern. Dauntless don't give up. They don't give in and they don't give a second thought as to what may happen if they don't succeed."

And with that, he turned his back and stepped away. "If you even think there's a chance you won't succeed… Don't bother showing up tomorrow."

His dramatic exit from the training room ended with the echoing slam of the metal fire doors behind him.

The air was instantly lighter the moment he left.

"You will be ranked accordingly on physicality, trainability and tactical skills in your first phase." Jana, the seemingly badass female leader, said taking over Eric's position.

Fawn had made sure she kept her eye on Jana throughout the day. While she certainly wasn't as large as Eric, there was an air about her that exuded dominance. She was fit and graceful. Each movement was not without purpose and her attitude was contemptible at best. 

Since Eric hadn't provided Fawn with an objective, her next best thought was to be as similar to Jana as possible. 

The bitchy attitude was easy enough to replicate, but being able to take someone down twice her size… that was something she had to work on. While she fell in a healthy weight range, her physical stamina and strength lacked… big time. She could barely keep up with the group once they took off running after the choosing ceremony and jumping on the train was no small feat for her either.

Learning tactical skills and trainability wouldn't be a problem for her. They'd have to be her saving grace until she could mold her body into a weapon. 

The group began to move through the labyrinth of cold, dark hallways. Some like metal tubes, some chiseled out of rock. While she took in the sights and sounds of her new home, she couldn't help but revert back to the challenge she'd have to put her body through.

While Erudite understood the necessity of a healthy body, it took a backseat to a healthy, active mind. She always secretly envied Dauntless physicality. Her father, a physiologist, ran a lab that would regularly study Dauntless subjects as well as those from other factions to understand the effects of each faction on the human body which would help the biologists, like her mother, develop medical devices and serums to treat the afflictions of each respective faction. Truth serum for Candor, Peace serum for Amity and a slew of highly guarded creations for Dauntless. 

She would be in awe when Dauntless would come to the lab. Their bodies hooked up with electrodes and wires as they were pushed through strenuous activities like sprinting and calisthenics until their breaking point. She never knew the human body was capable of such things. No one in Erudite certainly looked or moved like anyone from Dauntless. And when she saw the respect that Erudite gave to Dauntless and vice versa, she made up her mind that she wanted the best of both worlds. Her aptitude test produced the result she knew deep inside. Dauntless lived at her core.

They were all instructed to find their way back to the mess hall for their evening meal once the tour was over. Jana gave them little information as to what they were to do afterwards, but Fawn figured it’d be a good way to see who was serious about progressing in Dauntless and who was too juvenile to understand the gravity of the new lives they’d chosen.

She found a seat with a group of a few girls that she found interesting. Not just from and observant point of view, but they reminded her of her friends back in Erudite. Unfortunately, Fawn was the only one in her social circle that made Dauntless her new home. Some went to Candor and Amity, many stayed with Erudite. She had a tiny glimmer of hope that she’d cross paths with them again.

“Guess we just dig in.” a blonde girl that sat across from her suggested when platters of food were placed on the table in front of them.

“I could eat a horse right now.” another girl, Fawn remembered as Ainsley, said as she stabbed a burger patty from the platter.

The meal was simple. Consisting of meat, vegetables and bread. Fawn took a little of each, knowing the food was meant for fuel only. No flavor like they had at Candor. No mealtime camaraderie like at Amity. And certainly nothing new or exciting like they had at the Erudite kitchens. At least it was a step up from what Abnegation survived on. 

The girl next to her nudged her side. The red-headed Candor girl. “Bold move you made today.”

Fawn looked over to her and gave a weak smile. “Certainly wasn’t my intention.”

The red-head smiled back, but with more authenticity. “I’m Nadia.”

“Fawn.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure we all know who Fawn is now.” Nadia joked. “If they hadn’t said you were Erudite, I would have sworn you were Candor.”

A few other girls nodded in agreement.

“I still don’t understand why I said that.” she admitted, shaking her head.

“Well, I’m glad  _ somebody _ said it to him. I just wish I could have seen the look on his face when you did. I bet it was priceless.” Ainsley said.

“Believe me, if I could take it back, I would. I do  _ not _ want to be on his shit list.” Fawn answered.

The blonde across from her twirled her fork in Fawn’s direction. “Or maybe you do.” then she narrowed her eyes at her. “Dauntless leaders have a hard-on for fearlessness. I bet you were just looking for that competitive edge.”

Fawn arched a brow at her. She hoped this girl didn’t actually think she was dumb enough to do something like that. “Umm… not quite.”

“Take it easy, Tresta,” Nadia said to the blonde. “I don’t think anyone’s planned out their strategy on how to muscle their way through the ranks yet.”

_ Oh, if only she knew. _

“You know, they’re going to start ranking us as soon as tomorrow.” Ainsley revealed. “I overheard Jana telling another leader that she can already pick out who’s going to make it and who isn’t.”

“Fear mongering, ladies. It’s what they do here. And by the looks of it, they’ve already gotten to you.” Jakob snarked from further down the table.

Fawn rolled her eyes. This dude was going to be a royal pain. She just knew it. “How about you save the lip service for when you’re kissing Eric’s ass?” she barked back to him.

Jakob snorted and looked back to his mates. “You believe the mouth on this chick?”

Ugh. She didn’t realize there were going to be so many ballsy pricks in Dauntless. Maybe Tresta was right. Maybe people  _ were _ already planning out their own strategies. 

Speaking of… she really needed to keep her comments to herself. At least for the first few weeks.

Perhaps channeling her inner Jana was even easier than she thought.

Nadia laughed at her. “I like you, Fawn. We’re going to get along great.”

And she liked Nadia too. It was nice to find a friend so soon. Ainsley as well. And Tresta… well, she’d need some time to figure out Tresta.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sleep didn’t come well. It didn’t come well to most of the initiates. One large dormitory, unfamiliar beds with unfamiliar sounds. The comforts of home were no longer a reality. Her only thought was that she’d be so tired and worn from training the following evening that it wouldn’t matter where she slept as long as she had somewhere to lay her head.

"Everybody up!" a voice shouted, followed by clanging metal. "Training room! 5 minutes!" More clanging.

Voices groaned. She felt like she  _ just _ fell asleep.

"God. What time is it?" A groggy Nadia muttered from the cot next to hers.

"No clue." Fawn said, swinging her feet to the cold, concrete floor. Their dorm had no windows to see if the sun had risen yet and everyone had been stripped of personal possessions so checking the time on a watch was out of the question.

Everyone was too tired and still half asleep to taunt the modest initiates or even be modest at all as they dressed. They were like zombies, filing out of the room, leaving behind the two or three initiates that seemed to have just rolled back over and fell asleep.

"It's _ their _ funeral." She overheard Jakob mutter from the front of the line as he exited into the fluorescent lit hallway.

Fawn gathered her mahogany mane into her fist and pulled it into a tight ponytail as she entered the hall. She contemplated a bun, but she wasn't nearly awake enough to coordinate her hands for the task.

She thought they had made good time to the training room, but when they entered, a line of leaders and trainers were impatiently waiting with scowls on their faces.

"Run." a leader standing next to Eric said.

Everyone hesitated. "Run where?" someone asked.

Now the leader raised his voice, lurching toward the group. "I told you to run! Now run!" he shouted, pointing toward the furthest corner of the room.

Each of them kicked into gear, running in the direction of his hand as he yelled behind them. "You don't ask questions! You do as you're told!"

A stampede of heavy footsteps echoed in the training room as the group moved. Fawn felt comfortable in the middle, but she knew, depending on how long they continued running, she was going to fall behind.

"The parameter of the training room! All the way around!" Jana joined in the yelling.

The shouts from the leaders and trainers came upon them like rain.

"Faster!"

"Go! Go!"

"You run until we tell you to stop!"

The group began to spread out. The more fit, athletic types lead the pack and naturally, the less in shape fell behind. 

Nadia and Tresta pulled ahead of her… or was it her that was slowing down? Ainsley was at the tail end with Lex. 

_ Stay in the middle. No matter what. Stay in the middle. _ She urged herself. 

Once, twice… five, six times they ran around the training room that seemed to have been 100 yards long. She gave up counting after that, focusing her footsteps so she didn't trip over her own feet. She ignored the burning in her legs and ass. Ignored the fire in her lungs and tightness in her throat. All for the sake of staying in the middle. Blending in. Not sticking out as weak or superior. She watched the leaders, took note of who was behind her, studied the form of three leading initiates as they ran. Anything she could do to keep her mind from telling her body to slow down or give up.

“Alright, stop!” Eric barked and they all came to a screeching halt. Seconds later, a few at the tail end of the group collapsed from exhaustion. Fawn wasn’t too far from the same. She knew if she leaned forward, she’d get light headed and drop before she could catch herself, so she pressed her back against the filmy, cool wall of windows that showed a hazy view of more Dauntless, concrete block buildings. She was grateful for the two other initiates that stood in front of her blocking the sight of her wobbling legs from the leaders. 

She wiped the sweat away before it rolled into her eyes as Eric continued. “You are ranked where you stand,” then he stepped toward them. “If eliminations were to occur right now…” he pointed a finger directly at Fawn, “Everyone from _you_ and down would be gone.” and directed his hand down the line of panting initiates to the very end where Lex was just coming back to his feet.

Her stomach bottomed out.  _ Eliminated? _

Eric approached, eyes cast directly on her. The two initiates that she hid behind instinctively parted to make way for him as he came to loom over her with a wicked smirk that made her nauseatingly aware of how handsome he actually was and he leaned over to mutter in her ear. “Meant to be Dauntless, huh? Maybe your mouth shouldn’t be writing checks that your ass can’t cash.”

His words left her cringing like he had punched her in the gut and then lingered over her for a moment like he was self-righteously feeding off of her shame.

When he backed away, he still wore the smug grin, apparently pleased with himself and his ability to not only inflict physical harm, but mental as well.

The humor in his face left as he turned and took his place back with the other leaders, raising his voice for all to hear. “Performance talks. Bullshit walks. You run your mouth on me, I  _ will _ hold you to it.”

She instantly felt eyes on her coming from all sides. If she could have folded herself up and slipped through the cracks in the windows, she would have. Had she already blown her chance when she opened her trap yesterday during assessment?

“Top ten initiates, come with me.” Eric announced. “Next ten, go with Brice. Bottom ten are with Jana.”

Fawn took a quick count. She in fact, was the first in the bottom ten. She had never been in the bottom ranking of anything in Erudite. Her spirit was definitely crushed a little. But not broken.

_ First goal. Get out of bottom ranking. _

An attainable goal. Just as she had trained her mind for Erudite, she would train her body for Dauntless. Practicing. Pushing. Persevering. 

While the top ten had fun throwing knives and the middle ten learned some basic fighting skills, the bottom ten did nothing but strenuous, taxing exercises. Jumping jacks. Push ups. Sit ups. More damn running. Her logical side knew it was simply a means to build endurance, but her pride saw it as punishment. Punishment for being in the bottom ten. 

Her body ached and burned. At times her muscles simply gave out, falling face first onto the mat during push ups. She silently cursed her way through the morning, but refused to give up. While she was in the bottom ten, she had been ranked at the top. And she’d be damned if someone out performed her.

They were dismissed for an hour to have lunch. She and Ainsley found Nadia and Tresta just as the food was placed on the table

“How are you even able to stand?” Nadia said as Fawn and Ainsley flopped down into their seats. “We saw everything she was making you do. Totally unfair.”

“They’re trying to weed out the weak ones.” Tresta offered. “Not too smart to teach them how to fight or use weapons when they’re going to end up factionless.”

Man. This girl was full of smart assed comments when the leaders weren’t around.

“They’re building our endurance,” Fawn countered. “Just because someone can’t run as fast doesn’t mean they aren’t a killer shot or unable to throw a good punch.”

Tresta shrugged her shoulders. “Whatever. Just remember not to say any of that shit around Eric.”

Well. At least that was one thing she could agree with Tresta on. “Hopefully someone else will slip up and he’ll get off my back.” she said, bringing her drink to her mouth.

And as luck would have it, Jakob passed behind her with his entourage. “No one’s dumb enough to talk back to him.” he snickered, deliberately bumping her chair, causing her to spill water all over her. “And to think you were Erudite.”

Rage built inside her and she clenched her fists.  _ Fucking asshole. _ She’d have given almost anything to be able to kick his ass, but her lesson had been learned. Keep the mouth shut until she had the skills to back it up.

_ Just another reason to rise in the ranks.  _

Jakob’s snide remark fueled her more than the food on her plate would. It renewed her drive to reach the potential she knew resided in her.

After mealtime, the exercises continued. Pushing some of the initiates to the point of spewing up their lunch all over the mats.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Jana yelled. “On the mat?”

And once one puked, a chain reaction ensued and three more erupted either from the sight or smell.

Fawn backed away from the mess. She had known better than to gorge herself at lunch considering the day was only half over and there was no way in hell Jana was going to let up on the bottom ranking initiates.

As she moved further back to distance herself from the smell, she stumbled into a solid body and she quickly spun to investigate.

_ Eric. _

He was grinning. “What’s going on over here?” he asked with amused curiosity, his eyes on the puddles of vomit on the mats. “Any of that yours?”

She shook her head. “No sir.”

“Well why not?”

She tried not to look at him strangely. Was he encouraging her to puke all over the place? “Sir?” she questioned, hoping he’d clarify.

He shrugged at her. “I mean… they all pushed themselves to their breaking point. Why haven’t you?”

Bastard was trying to set her up, wasn’t he?

“Or maybe they overate during the break.” she offered.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m not asking about them… I’m asking about  _ you _ .”

“I’ve performed each activity as Jana has asked, sir.”

He folded his arms across his broad chest. The long sleeves of his jacket did nothing to minimize the structure of his muscular arms. “Need I remind you, initiate, you’re placed in the bottom ranking. What you thought had been enough during the run this morning, clearly was not. What makes you think what you are doing now is enough?”

She chose her words carefully. The last thing she needed was another smartass comment to propel her to the top of his shit list. “Because I’ve learned from my mistakes. Sir.”

“You’ve learned from your mistakes?” he mocked with fake surprise and then the emotion fell from his face. “We’ll see about that.” 

She actually felt a chill course through her as his enchanting, but deadly cold eyes held her for a moment, then moved away toward Jana.

“And stop with the ‘sir’ bullshit.” he barked back to her. “It’s not impressing anyone.”

Ugh. Was anything she did good enough for him?

She watched him stroll over to Jana, hands casually clasped behind his back and they talked about the matter at hand.

Then something she didn't expect happened as Eric spoke to the female leader. Jana, the hard-nosed bitch, actually  _ smiled.  _ Her whole demeanor changed. Her rigid stance turned lax and she shifted her weight to one foot, pushing what little curve she had to her hips toward Eric's direction. And was she playing with the buttons on her jacket? 

Wait. Was she trying to…  _ flirt _ with him?

Fawn couldn't help but snort through a laugh as she looked on. Had anyone else noticed it? This was exactly what she was looking for. 

Strengths for Jana: fit, physical and meaner than a hungry badger.

Weaknesses for Jana: Eric.

Her lack of motion caught Jana's eye and the leader pulled back into her hard stance. "Did I tell you to stop, initiate?" she shouted at Fawn. "Back to your training!"

Fawn hopped into gear with newly found strength just as Eric looked back to her. Jumping jacks, sit ups, push up and a lap around the training room. 10 of each and one lap. Then 20 of each and two laps and so on. 

She'd continue her regimen alone. The initiates that barfed were sent to the infirmary. Those who stopped their training to assist the ill ones were made to clean up the mess.

Not that she didn't want to make sure the ones who got sick were okay, but she knew if she stopped to help like an Amity or Abnegation would, she'd be treated like one. Dauntless were notorious for looking down on those two factions. 

And she couldn't let that happen. Especially because Eric was watching her like a hawk.

She focused on the knife throwing while she did her sit ups. Fighting maneuvers during her jumping jacks. Her push ups consisted of her imagining decking Jakob in the face when the time comes. And her run around the training room gave her the advantage of observing each and every leader, their training style in addition to who and what they're paying attention to.

Her eyes kept finding Eric, though. He was everywhere all at once. One moment he was in the far corner with the top initiates. Then he'd be on the mats, huddled with two or three other leaders, discussing the initiates progress. Then she'd find him overlooking the fighting tactics. 

And each time she approached his location, his glare would find her. He'd direct his eyes to her until she felt their presence and they'd lock stares as she passed. 

It made her feel cold and hot at the same time. The hostility on his face should have made her want to look away but… she couldn't. It was like he even held her gaze prisoner. Total fucking control with just a look.

It reminded her that's what she was here for. To achieve that same influence. She didn't need to be like Jana. She needed to surpass Jana. To have enough power not to be in Eric's control.

She chose Dauntless to reach her full potential.

And no one was going to get in her way.

Not even Eric.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The rest of the week consisted of the same grueling workouts. But, luckily they were broken up with an hour of knife throwing here, two hours of fighting basics there. 

Rankings were not shown to the initiates and the top middle and bottom tiers were trained separately.

Her body ached. It burned and begged her to stop, but toward the end of the week she found herself pushing through a few more push ups, one or two more sit ups.

She was progressing. Was it enough to bump her up into the middle ranking? She didn't know, but it encouraged her. 

Their first day off after a week was the most beautiful day she'd seen in some time. No obnoxious wake up call at the crack of dawn. No lung burning runs. No painful workouts. Breakfast even seemed to taste better. She sat around with her friends, discussing what they'd do with their free time.

"Think it's too early to get a tattoo?" Tresta asked. "I might get this pierced too." she said, pinching the flesh between her nostrils.

"Septum." Fawn informed, poking at her eggs.

"Huh?"

"It's called a septum."

"Well, I want to get it pierced. I think it'd look pretty sweet."

"I've been thinking about a tattoo also." Nadia added. "I just don't know what I want."

"Let's go and look today!" Ainsley gasped with excitement. "I think I want one too."

"What about you, Fawn? Up for a little girls trip?"

She wouldn't lie and say she hadn't thought about getting tattooed as well. But getting one even before the second week of training? Sounded a little premature for her. "I'll come for moral support."

"You don't want one?" Nadia asked.

Fawn opened her mouth to respond, but Tresta beat her to it. "You're not scared, are you?"

"No, it's just-"

"Oh, come on." Nadia said. "It's not like we're asking you to get Eric's neck tattoos."

They all chuckled. "How much you want to bet Jakob's going to show up with an identical neck tattoo?" Fawn said, nodding toward Jakob's direction as he conveniently took a seat at the table just below the second level where Eric sat at the Leader’s tables.

They all laughed harder. Loud enough to bring not only Jakob's attention, but Eric's to them as well.

They quickly stifled their giggles, averting their eyes until the looks turned away.

"I don't know…" Ainsley said, discreetly turning her eyes back in the direction they were all just looking. "He  _ is _ kinda hot…"

Nadia almost choked on her food. "Who? Jakob?"

"Ew! No!" Ainsley turned her nose up in disgust, then lowered her voice and leaned in to her friends. " _ Eric. _ "

Fawn's brows rose in surprise. She wouldn't have taken Eric as Ainsley's type.

" _ Kinda  _ hot? Like how the sun is 'kinda hot'?" Tresta asked sarcastically. "That's the only thing that's been keeping me sane here."

"Typical Candor." Nadia said with an eye roll. "You just could help yourself, could you?"

"Oh, come on. I'm not the only one who thinks so." Tresta defended.

Fawn knew better than to admit something like that out loud. While his demeanor left little to be desired, she couldn't deny how damn attractive he was. 

"I mean… I think it's because we're afraid of him." Ainsley began to reason. "Like all that male dominance flips a switch in the female mind."

"Getting philosophical, are we?" Nadia laughed.

"No… I get where she's coming from," Tresta defended. "It's the idea that we don't know what he's capable of. Like he could come unhinged in that training room at any moment."

Fawn stabbed at her food with her fork. "That's the last place he'll come unhinged," then pops it in her mouth as they all look at her for clarification. "He has complete and total control in there. That training room is his domain. Everyone’s terrified of him and he feeds off of that. He'd never snap when he has control." she said between chews and then swallowed it down. "But if you take that control away… Well, that's a different story."

"Well, he can control me all he wants." Tresta added with a naughty smirk.

Once they finished eating, they made their way to the Pit. The place was buzzing with an energy she never felt in Erudite. Dauntless born and transfers alike packed the area. Some checking out the shops, some socializing and some forming a rowdy circle around a pair of guys that wanted to settle an argument with their fists rather than their words.

The 4 girls stopped to watch the fight. It was the first time any of them had gotten a chance to see what their training could evolve into.

The guys, one with a shaved head and the other with blue hair, both a few years older than them, circled the makeshift ring, eyeing each other up until the shaved head guy made the first move, lunging toward his opponent and tried to tackle him to the ground, but blue hair braced himself, latching on and began a series of heavy blows to the ribs.

Shaved head pulled away and surprised blue hair with an uppercut. 

The crowd burst into cheers and shouts, egging the competitors on.

Blue hair stumbled back, but regained his composure and swung his fist haphazardly, missing shaved head by less than an inch.

A leg swing took blue hair down and the guy with the shaved head immediately mounted him and delivered blow after blow until two other guys pulled him off, announcing that the fight had ended.

And with that, shaved head dusted his hands off and went about his business like it never happened, leaving blue hair bloody faced and dazed.

The girls all looked at each other, but said nothing. While Fawn couldn't read what her friends were thinking, her mind was swirling in so many directions. Thoughts of being able to take Jakob down like that. Disbelief that someone could do such damage and walk away from it unphased. And worry that in order to become like that, she'd have to practice on a human being rather than a punching bag. More specifically, practice on people she considered her friends. There was no way in hell Eric and his twisted mind was going to let any of them get away without facing something daunting like punching a friend in the face. She had no doubt Eric was the kind of person that would knock his own mother out without a second thought.

_ It's what you'll have to do in order to get what you want. _

She needed to remind herself that she chose Dauntless because she knew the mind  _ and _ body had to work in sync in order to reach her full potential.

The strong submitted to the virtue of knowledge.

The weak submitted to the virtue of physicality.

Those who possessed both attributes held the power and influence.

Power and influence like Eric had.

"Holy freaking crap." Tresta muttered. "That was… _ awesome _ !"

"Well, looks like we all know who's going to be the most violent of the group." Nadia snickered with a smile. "Maybe you  _ are _ ready for that tattoo."

"You're damn right I am!" Tresta said and marched straight toward the tattoo parlor, leading the way for her friends.

The walls were covered with rows of tattoo choices. Some large and extravagant, some small and simple. Each girl scanned the wall at their leisure.

Fawn had told herself she wanted to wait, but the excitement was urging her to take the plunge with her friends.

Now if she was only able to find something she wanted to have on her body for the rest of her life…

Her distracted state sent her wandering into another body. A large, solid body.

"Whoa," the guy said, turning toward her. "Watch where you're-"

He stopped mid sentence where they came to lock eyes.

"Oh, sorry." Fawn mumbled, quickly pulling her gaze from him. 

She caught him smirk at her. "A new initiate not only getting a tattoo, but trying to knock over a higher ranking member. Bold."

She sensed the sarcasm in his voice and looked directly at him. His smirk had turned into a full blown smile. 

"Apparently, I have a tendency to forget my place." she admitted with an apologetic smile.

"Oh," he mused. "I take it this isn't your first time stepping out of line… bet the leaders are loving that."

Now she laughed, glad he wasn't some prick looking to assert his dominance. "I don't mean to brag, but Eric's already planning my demise." she said, proudly.

The guy laughed. "Oh yeah. An attitude like that is going to send you straight to the top of his list of initiates to break." He eyed the display of tattoos over her head. "He's going to give you hell for getting tattooed so soon, too."

Her brows rose. "And here I thought he'd encourage initiates to get tattooed. Proving how committed we are and all."

"Eric doesn't accept initiates as Dauntless unless  _ he  _ says they're Dauntless. Getting tattooed is like a slap in his face, saying you don't care about this authority."

Hmmm. Interesting information.

"I take it you know from experience." she smirked.

"He knows better than to push around Dauntless born." he scoffed, then held out his hand to her. "I'm Kallen."

She took it with a firm grip. "Fawn."

His hand completely encompassed hers. He was strong, solid… and totally hot.

_ Geez, what is it with these Dauntless guys?  _

"Oh,  _ you're _ Fawn." he said with a mischievous grin. "Yeah, I've heard about you. But, I must say… you aren't what I was expecting."

His statement raised so many questions. Just what were people saying about her? And what did he mean she wasn't what he expected?

"I don't know what part of that I'd like you to explain first."

He shrugged. "Well… I mean, I didn't expect the initiate that told Eric to stick it to look like you." 

Her eyes widened. "Okay, first of all, I didn't come remotely close to telling Eric to 'stick it'." Then her eyes narrowed at him. "And what were you expecting me to look like?"

"Oh, I don't know. Some pissed off bitch that would look better with a bag over her head."

"I'm hoping the day will come when no one wants to see me pissed off."

"That's fine with me… Just as long as you don't cover that beautiful face."

She'd been enjoying their little back and forth fun, but his last comment caught her off guard. A little flash of heat flamed up her neck and she quickly looked away, chewing on her bottom lip.

He leaned toward her with a purr. "Oh sweetheart, you keep doing that, you're going to get my blood pumping." 

She peeked up at him. His warm, brown eyes made her melt a little. "You make it sound like a bad thing." she flirted playfully.

"Kallen! Come on, you're up!" A guy shouted from next to a tattoo chair, bringing their attention away from each other.

"Looks like we're going to have to cut this short." he groaned, looking back to her. "But, I have a feeling I'm going to be seeing more of you." he finished with a wink as he backed away. "Stay out of trouble, beautiful."

As he turned, he pulled his shirt up and over his head, giving her a first hand glimpse of his muscular back and he made his way over to the tattoo chair, taking a seat and lounging back. His chest was already tattooed. An intricate design on his right pec. But, there was a lot more to look at than just his tattoo. He was toned with that lean, athletic body. 

_ Yes. Dauntless guys are  _ much _ better than Erudite guys. _

She heard giggling behind her and she looked back to her friends that were peeking at her for behind a corner. She scurried over to them, not caring that she squealed with excitement as she met them.

"Who was  _ that _ ?" Ainsley inquired. 

"His name's Kallen. And he is just as hot up close as he is from a distance." Fawn informed, looking back to him as the tattoo artist began working on him.

"Dauntless dudes are so much hotter than Candor guys." Nadia sighed.

"And Erudite guys." Fawn added.

"Well, we're hot Dauntless babes now and we need tattoos to prove it." Tresta said, holding up the template of her chosen tattoo.

Nadia and Ainsley both clutched theirs to their chests, noticing Fawn hadn't picked hers yet.

"Fawn, you didn't figure out what you wanted yet?" Nadia asked.

Kallen's words rang in her mind. She didn't need Eric coming down on her for something else now. She already learned to keep her mouth shut. A tattoo would just be another reason for him to single her out as a nuisance. "I think I'm going to skip the tattoo for now… there's just so much to choose from… I don't know where to begin."

She didn't know why she didn't mention what Kallen said about the tattoos. Part of her didn't want to burst the girls bubbles. And a darker part of her thought it might help even the playing field. If she could just get a little attention taken off of her, she could focus on progressing instead of tiptoeing around Eric all the time. 

Besides, it looked like half of her initiation group was here for a tattoo or piercing.

"Who's next?" A rough looking guy with a half shaved head of black hair and a face tattoo called from his seat next to the chair.

"Oh! Me!" Tresta jumped, trotting over to the guy and handed him the template.

Fawn watched on, out of pure curiosity, as the tattoo artist set Tresta up. She had decided on the Dauntless flames to be placed on her chest, on the lower part of her sternum.

Tresta's body was already lean and slim. The tattoo practically laid flat between the small swell of her breasts and she unabashedly pulled down her sports bra more to accommodate the tattoo.

Nadia's piece was larger, fitting along her long torso from her ribs to her hip. It was an intricate design patterned blocks, fitting together like puzzle pieces. Her tall, lithe body seemed to be made for it.

Ainsley chose something more delicate. A swirling tangle of vines on her right shoulder. While she was on the more plump side, Fawn had already begun to notice Ainsley's face slim slightly and her posture improved.

"Last call, Fawn." Nadia urged, nodding her head to the tattoo chair.

"I'm good." Fawn assured, then turned the attention back on them so they wouldn't question her decision. "Let's go show those bad boys off." she winked, ushering them out of the tattoo parlor.


	4. Chapter 4

"Everyone up!" the familiar shout and clanging metal stirred her awake. "Training room, 5 minutes!"

Week 2 had officially begun.

Initiates scrambled from their beds. Everyone. The two initiates that decided to sleep in last week hadn't been seen since and no one had the nerve to ask what happened to them.

They were all silent as they made their way to the training room. Some not yet recovered from the previous night’s activities and some that had come to learn what their leaders expected of them.

They formed their usual line and awaited instructions.

It was Eric that stepped forward this morning. “Run.” he commanded.

Without taking a breath, the entire group took off. The usual top initiates took their place at the lead.

“You run like your fucking life depends on it!” he shouted. 

The one day of rest was hardly enough time for Fawn’s body to recuperate. The tightness in her thighs and ass began almost immediately. 

_ Please don’t cramp up. Please don’t cramp up. _

Miraculously, after the third lap, her muscles became more loose. Her stride longer. And… did she just pass someone up? 

She set a pace, knowing she’d have several more laps before they’d stop. While some zipped past her at the beginning of the run, they now began to slow, giving her a chance to keep her position in the middle. By the sixth lap, the bodies began to lose their posture. Solid steps turned into flopping feet, desperate to keep moving. It would be coming to an end shortly and she had to ensure a safe position.

She dug deep, looking for the last bit of fire hidden beneath the fatigue. There was no other option. Either she had to push herself harder or fall in the bottom tier again. 

Her mind took over for her body.  _ Move. Faster. The pain will be temporary. The effects of being at the bottom will not. _

She let out a low growl from between her teeth as her legs moved quicker, expelling any energy she had trapped within her and she passed another initiate… then another. And just as she lost sight of the third body as she moved past it, the call to halt was made.

“Alright, stop!” Eric demanded, bringing the run to an end.

Once again, some initiates fell to their knees, others hinged forward in a desperate effort to catch their breath, herself included. But she wouldn’t fall. She refused to fall.

Eric approached the panting group, mentally assessing them as he walked down the line. “You’ve been here a week. I do not need to tell anyone what will happen if you continue to fall below Dauntless standards. If your results are less than optimal, it is  _ your  _ duty to change that.”

A nervousness washed over her as he passed, making quick eye contact with Fawn that had her feeling he was making sure she knew his comment was directed toward her.

She tried not to count where she stood in line in regards to her ranking. She couldn’t be in the bottom tier again. She just couldn’t.

He stopped a few feet away from her and he stood formidably in front of an initiate three spots to her left. “You and everyone from your left is at the bottom.” he said to the initiate with disgust. “If you continue to find yourself in this position, I will not only welcome your elimination, but celebrate it.”

Wait a minute… She wasn’t included in that group. 

She made it.

And she wasn’t even at the very bottom. There were still two initiates to her left that made up the middle tier.

She desperately tried to hide her smile. 

"Top ten, go with Jana."

_ Ugh. Thank God. _ Fawn thought to herself. 

“Bottom ten, report to Brice.”

So she wouldn’t be training with Jana again. Nor Brice this time.

That meant…  _ Shit. _

“You ten are with  _ me _ .” Eric smirked from the corner of his mouth. If she didn’t know any better, she actually would have thought it was sexy. But it was Eric. And Eric was sadistic.

Last week he had some poor bastard stand in front of a target while another leader hurled knives at them. And after an initiate complained about the lack of water they received during their break, he promptly led all of the initiates outside and had them watch on as he made the complainer drink from the stagnant water in the gutters.

The smile fell from his face. “Line up!” he barked. “Against the wall!”

All ten of them scrambled to the nearest wall. She began to second guess whether she actually wanted to be in this second tier after all.

He pointed to the brick pillar 20 yards away. “Bear crawls. To the pillar and back.”

She fought with everything in her not to make an audible groan and dropped down into position. Unfortunately, someone else couldn’t hold it back.

Eric snapped his head in the direction of the groan. One of Jakob’s side-kicks. Shane.

“And now you can all thank Shane for doubling the drill.” Eric added with a hint of complacency.

Fuck. First it was that damn run, now she had to awkwardly crawl across the room, twice thanks to Shane. At least when she opened her mouth, no one else got punished.

Eric continued to shout orders at them. “Keep your backs straight. Knees off the ground.”

She had just stopped sweating from the run and now it began all over again, dripping from her face, stinging her eyes. She left wet handprints on the mat with each move forward. 

Finally she reached the pillar and turned to go back. A quarter of the way there. This was doable. She knew that burn would soon return to her thighs and ass, but she saw the silver lining of having a banging booty by the time training was complete.

Almost to the wall. She could see it in her peripheral vision. She quickly learned after a few seconds to keep her head in line with her back and her eyes to the floor so she didn’t strain her neck. 

Just as she approached, a large pair of black boots stood between her and the wall.

“Don’t forget to the touch the wall before you turn back.” A voice floated down from above her. 

Fucking Eric.

She chomped down on her tongue to keep her from making the same mistake Shane had and reached out, tapping the wall next to his shin. Then, began to turn for the second trip to the pillar, trying her best to ignore the fact that her ass would be vulnerably presented to him.

His boot immediately swept her foot out from under her and she fell to her knees. “ _ Stand  _ and touch the wall.” he clarified.

She swallowed down the annoyance and rose to her feet, wiping the sweat from her face as she spun back to him.

He wore the faintest hint of a smirk. One that no one would notice unless they were less than 2 feet away from him. And it didn’t reside on his mouth. It came from his eyes. That diabolical sparkle that almost made her body want to forget what her mind already knew: Eric was depraved.

Her hand came to the wall next to his head with a wet smack, emphasizing her irritation, and looked him directly in the eye without a word. He wanted a good little soldier? She’d give him a good little soldier. She’d obey every order. Follow each command without hesitation. Piss him off by not giving him anything to cut her down with.

He thought he was going to break her that easy? This power trip of his was going to make her even harder. 

She fell back to her knees to complete the drill, again ignoring the stabbing thought of whether or not his eyes were on her ass.

He moved about, deliberately getting in the initiates way so they had to crawl around him. He’d casually walk by as an initiate stopped to take a breath, bringing his boot down on the very tips of their fingers. Enough to inflict pain, but not enough to break a bone so they wouldn’t have to leave for the infirmary and suspend their training.

After the bear crawls, he brought them to the bags.  _ Finally. Fighting skills. _ She thought to herself. Something she was actually looking forward to in her training. And thanks to her hard work, she was able to get out of that bottom level and work on something constructive.

"Partner up." he ordered.

Fawn quickly scanned the group. Ainsley was still in the bottom tier and Nadia was in the top. She knew she saw Tresta during the bear crawls and spotted her heading in her direction.

She let out a small sigh of relief. At least she was going to do this with someone she was comfortable with.

"What are we doing?" Fawn asked quietly from between her teeth, trying to satisfy curiosity without getting her head bitten off from Sergeant Slaughter.

"Get behind the bag." Tresta responded with the same hushed tone as she rounded the large punching bag. "He's not a fan of repeating himself so he's going to expect you to already know what we did last week."

Fawn followed her around the bag, checking for the direction of Eric's eyes. "I wasn't with you guys last week." she continued to whisper.

Tresta held up her hand, stopping Fawn in her tracks. "Just get behind the bag and hold it," then, did her own sweep of the area for their brooding leader. "Watch what I do… He's going to have us take turns."

"Take turns doing _ what _ ?"

"Positions!" Eric shouted.

Each initiate quickly moved into place. Two at each bag. One holding the bag firm, the other coming to a defensive stance. Arms up, fists formed.

Fawn copied the other initiates, grabbing on to the bag and peeked around it to find Tresta poised and ready.

Her form looked pretty damn good.

"Begin!"

The bag instantly began to move in her hands as Tresta pummeled it with a steady rhythm of choreographed moves. Fawn looked down the line of bags and found the same motions. Right cross, left uppercut finishing with a left elbow. Again and again. Some initiates held strong stances but couldn't move the bag. Some were moving the bag with force, but sloppy with their delivery.

Eric began walking the line, observing with a blank face. Once in a while he would degrade an initiate's form or lack of strength, but then follow through with how to correct their mistake.

_ Was that a little glimmer of hope that he actually planned on training us instead of just beating the initiates to a pulp? _

As Eric made his way toward them, the bag began to push back harder as Tresta seemed to kick things up a notch.

Fawn grappled with the bag to control it. Who knew someone as little as Tresta could pack such a punch.

"Whoa. Easy there, killer." Fawn muttered to her friend.

"Is he coming?" Tresta whispered, peeking around the bag to Fawn while still keeping form.

Fawn took a quick peek to see Eric indeed coming in their direction. "Yeah…" she continued whispering.

Immediately, Tresta began to beat the bag like it owed her money. Complete with angry grunts and commands for Fawn to hold the bag firmer.

"Hold the bag!" Tresta yelled, continuing her assault. "Keep it still!"

The commotion caught Eric's ear and his gaze turned at them.

"Shhh!" Fawn hissed. "He's going to come over here."

"I  _ want  _ him to." Tresta responded.

Fawn's grip tightened on the bag. "You  _ what? _ Why the hell-?"

The moment Eric looked away, Tresta stopped and leaned around the bag to her friend. "Please Fawn. I've been working my ass off and he hasn't noticed me  _ once _ ."

Fawn looked at her, incredulous. "Are you crazy? Trust me. You  _ don't _ want his attention."

Tresta's eyes emphasized her urgency. " _ Yes _ , I do. Please Fawn. Just do this for me."

Fawn grumbled but begrudgingly obliged and held the bag firm while Tresta unleashed on it.

Must have been nice to not worry whether or not Eric was going to insult or humiliate her. All Tresta was concerned about was getting him to notice her. 

_ She has to be out of her mind if she thinks Eric would be interested in some overzealous initiate _ . Fawn thought.

He seemed to be more of the type who liked to 'hunt' for his prize rather than have it thrown at his feet.

"Keep the bag straight!" Tresta voiced again, obviously putting herself on display for their leader.

"Okay. Okay," Fawn muttered, looking around the bag at her friend. "Could you just take it down a notch?"

Tresta's eyes met Fawn's for a split second, then drifted beyond her and continued with the same aggressive effort as before. The sheer determination stamped across her face was different than it has been before. She was super focused, in perfect form and torn into that bag like there was no tomorrow.

Then, she felt a presence over her. An uneasy feeling that made the hairs on the back of her neck stick up. She was being watched. Closely.

She slowly turned her head, coming to find Eric bearing over her, arms folded and intently alternating his gaze between her and Tresta.

"Keep that form," he said, clearly addressing Tresta. "You have power for your size. We just have to work on your muscle mass."

Wait a minute. Did he actually pay someone a compliment?

He quickly turned his head, now shouting to the whole group. "Everybody stop!"

Fawn caught a quick glimpse of Tresta's ear to ear grin, before it disappeared when Eric turned back to them.

"You can learn something from your partner here." Eric said, now focused on Fawn. "I expect similar competence."

She instantly ran the motions through her memory. Right cross, left uppercut and finish with the elbow. 

"Switch positions!" he yelled again to the group, but left his eyes on Fawn. 

A nervousness curled in her stomach. He was going to stand there and watch her, wasn't he?

She assumed the position she observed Tresta take, then raised her fists, hoping it was the correct form.

"Begin!"

She went through the motion. Praying she remembered correctly. Right cross, left uppercut and ended with the left elbow.

Her first round hardly made the bag even swing a little. She tried again with little success. 

"Are you kidding me?" Eric snarled.

She tried to ignore his displeasure in her performance and continued the drill.

_ Hit harder. Movements sharp and concise. Keep form. _

For as much as she tried to focus on correcting her shortcomings, her body just wouldn't execute what she had in mind.

"Just stop." Eric growled, slapping her hands down. His annoyance gave her a sour feeling in her stomach. "I don't know what's worse. Your form, lack of strength or your blatant disrespect."

"Disrespect?" she snapped but then bit her tongue, desperately trying to remember she was trying to be that 'good little soldier'. "Was not my intention." she said calmly.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Then what  _ was  _ your intention? Because it certainly wasn't what you were told to do." he said, mockingly.

She resisted the urge to give him a piece of her mind, knowing that was exactly what he wanted her to do so he could humiliate her more.

_ Don't give him the satisfaction, Fawn. He's counting on you to slip up again. _

She opened her mouth, not sure if anything she would say would appease him, but he beat her to it.

"Get into position." he ordered.

She quickly scrambled, positioning herself as she saw the rest of the initiates were in.

He let out an annoyed sound and rolled his eyes. "You're fucking pathetic." and reached over, roughly maneuvering her into the correct position. 

He gripped her shoulders, pushing them from their slouched position. He yanked her wrists, aligning her arms to protect her face. His foot kicked at hers to widen her stance.

Then he moved behind her and before she could realize what was happening, his hands were clutching her hips.

Her instinct was to break away, but he held her firm. "Your power comes from here. Don't neglect your core." he said, in an almost growl. Then, his hands slid up the curve of her waist and came to rest at her ribs, just below the swell of her breasts.

Heat flashed over her as the power of his hands clasped around her and he pulled back to straighten her spine, yanking her against the strength of his body in the process. "Poor positioning will almost always guarantee your loss in a fight." he muttered in her ear and God help her if it didn't send a chill down her neck.

She held the position, trying to block out how perfectly the curves of her body fit inside the hardened planes of his and focused on each correction of her form.

"Hit the bag." he said in a much calmer, almost encouraging tone.  _ Almost _ .

Her fist immediately made contact with the bag and she instantly noticed the difference in the delivery.

"Again." he said, still holding her is his grasp. "Harder."

She repeated the motion, forcing the effort through her shoulder.

His fingers dug deeper into her ribs and gave her a little shake. "From here. You have strength here."

She threw the punch again, pulling the power from her core and nailed the bag with a loud, hard thud. The impact was substantial. She felt it in her whole body that if the bag had been a person, they would have been knocked out cold.

Wow. Guess she _ did _ have it in her.

Eric released her, but remained close as he rounded to face her. "If I catch you doing anything less than what you just did, I'll throw your ass to the bottom of the rankings and leave you there to rot."

And with that, he turned to step away, now moving his eyes to Tresta. "Make sure she follows every damn thing you do."

Tresta nodded. "Yes sir."

His eyes skittered down to the tattoo on her chest. "And if you continue to perform, I'll personally make sure you find a spot in the top rankings."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir."

He moved away, noticing the initiates stopped their drills to watch him instruct Fawn. "I didn't tell any of you to stop!"

Everyone jolted back into their positions and resumed the drills, but the damage had been done. “Since you all took it upon yourselves to take a break, guess that means you don’t have to take one later.” he concluded, casually walking the line of initiates at their bags.

Fawn almost didn’t care that she'd miss lunch. This new found strength made her want to stand at the bag all day and lay into it until it burst at the seams. 

She’d finally felt a glimpse of that power she saw in her father’s lab all those years ago. And it made her hungry for more.

Tresta seemed just as encouraged. “A spot in the top rankings? Did you hear him?” she gushed in the quietest tone she could manage.

Yeah she heard him. She also heard him threaten the bottom slot for Fawn if she didn’t harness all that hidden power each and every time he looked her way. 

That was fine with her. She was going to need it if she was going to rise in the ranks.

Now if only she could find a way to keep Eric at a distance.

The moment his hands moved to her hips, her brain turned to mush. It was like he completely controlled her thoughts through contact. When he clasped her waist, all she could think of was how easily he could crack a rib with a simple squeeze… and how much she enjoyed the feeling of his body against hers.

_ Oh no. No no no. Way too dangerous of a thought _ .

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Tresta said with a friendly smirk, then gestured to the bag. “Back to work.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

They worked through their drills, learning new positions, even exploring a few defensive tactics. And Fawn ate it up. Absorbing all the knowledge she could. Not only the information they were being taught, but how each and every initiate applied the lesson. Who took well to the moves, who struggled. Unconscious habits they’ve formed while executing their drills. Poor footing. Weak and dominant sides. 

“What is the most important thing when in hand to hand combat?” Eric asked the group when they took a breather between reps.

“Strength.” Someone piped up.

“Wrong.” he said without a beat.

“Stamina.” another said.

“No.” he responded sharply.

A long silence surrounded them.

_ Somebody say it. Please, somebody say it. _ Fawn thought. If no one came up with the correct answer, he’d surely take his disappointment out on them in the form of some physical punishment. 

While she knew what he was looking for, she bit her tongue. She was already given the reputation as being a smartass, but being a  _ smart  _ smartass would most definitely doom her. 

“Form.” Shane voiced proudly. Then, his eyes shifted to Fawn.  _ Dickhead. _ She had caught him eyeballing her when Eric was chewing her out over her form.

Eric was silent. He stood there, glaring at all of them and sucked on his teeth. The longer he stayed quiet, the more Fawn dreaded his reaction.

“If any of you little shits won’t give me an acceptable answer, you’ll all be thrown into the bottom ranks at the beginning of next week… no matter your performance this week.” Eric informed through a clenched jaw.

Well, that was a load of bullshit if she ever heard it. Hadn’t one of these assholes figured it out yet?

The entire group began nervously looking around to each other. Fawn bit her lip so hard, she swore she drew blood. Speak up and draw more attention from Eric and the other initiates as competition? Or get put back into the bottom tier and have to fight her way back up again?

Leading in Dauntless definitely required brawn  _ and _ brains.

Eric grew restless waiting for a response. “You’re all fucking worthless. Consider yourselves officially out-”

“Know your opponent.” she stated, cutting Eric off in the middle of his ruling.

Fuck it. There was no way in hell she was going to take one step forward and two steps back. She wasn’t going back into that bottom tier.

His eyes instantly darted to her. The thick silence from him was like waiting for the hatchet to drop on her neck as he moved in her direction with his usual stance, arms clasped behind his back and she braced herself for his response.

He came to an abrupt stop in front of her, eyes boring down with an unreadable expression. She met his gaze without trepidation. 

“Know your opponent.” he repeated for the whole group to hear, but still kept those eyes on hers. “The first and most important rule is to know your opponent.”

He stepped away and a huge weight lifted off of her as he continued. “Always know what you’re up against. Prepare yourself. It’s not always strength against strength. Sometimes it’s strength against speed. Size against stamina. Don’t ever underestimate that your opponent may have qualities that you lack.”

He carried on with his address as Tresta nudged her in the ribs. “Nice save.” she muttered from the corner of her mouth.

“I’m not going back into that bottom tier.” Fawn whispered back.

“Things are not going to get any easier,” Eric continued as he made his way back toward Fawn’s position. “You are expected to conduct yourselves as Dauntless soldiers. When you are given an order, you do it without hesitation. When training, you perform better than you did the day before. And when you are asked a question…” he stopped in front of her again with his signature blank stare. “You give an immediate answer.” 

Of course he’d find something wrong with what she did. Go from bottom rankings to the middle? Nope, not good enough. Take to his training without question and perform as shown? Threatened to be thrown back to the bottom with no hope of recovery unless her regimen continued to be flawless. Save the entire group from losing their position by understanding his logic? Scolded for not answering him in a time he saw fit.

It didn’t deter her though. There would be a time in the future that he’d grasp for something to degrade her for and come up with nothing. She felt it in her bones. 

He stared at her for a moment and she desperately tried to read what was beyond those enchanting eyes. Judgement and malice stood at the front line, but beyond that was something…  _ different.  _

He turned away before she could figure out what it was.

“I’m done with you all for now,” he waved his hand at them, annoyed. “Run another circuit and make it count. You’ll be graded on your performance.” 

A circuit consisted of five laps around the training room, followed by more bear crawls, sit ups, push ups and ending at the bags.

They all took off. The run helped her clear her head. Remaining unnoticed was more difficult than she anticipated. While the rest of the initiates hadn’t caught on to her tactics, it seemed Eric honed in on it. It was like he could read her. Knew her steps before she took them so he’d be there to discredit them.

He wasn’t just overbearing and callous. He was smart. And that made for an incredibly dangerous combination.

It made her wonder if he was actually Dauntless born as her group assumed, or was there an Erudite background no one knew about.

The sweat began to drip after the third lap. It formed a puddle below her when she did her push ups. It left a body sized mark on the mat during the sit ups. By the time she returned to the bags, she was saturated from head to toe. While the spirit was willing, her body began to fatigue. As did the rest of the initiates. Missing lunch hadn't bothered her at the time, but now her body was feeling the effects from a lack of fuel.

"Everybody stop!" Eric yelled, addressing not only her group, but the top and bottom tiers. "Line up. All of you. Right here." He pointed to the long wall next to the exit.

He stood with the rest of the leaders, taking a momentary visual inspection of the group as a whole. "It has come to our attention that some of you have taken it upon yourselves to partake in the Dauntless tattoo and piercing tradition." he said.

Jana took a turn to speak. "Since you've taken that step to individualize yourselves, we assume you won't mind us taking a better look."

Both she and Eric began at one end and worked their way down, taking their time to assess each initiates choice of ink or piercing.

She remembered what Kallen told her. Eric wasn't fond of initiates claiming themselves as Dauntless before he approved it. Yet, he made no fuss. No disgusted remarks. No even a scoff. Just a few vague comments like 'Interesting' or 'Creative'. Nadia's tattoo was labeled as 'Intricate'.

Tresta squirmed in line next to Fawn. The girl had made sure she wore only a sports bra today to ensure her tattoo would indeed get recognition. She tugged down on it in anticipation of Eric's assessment.

He finally came to a stop in front of her friend. Eyes focusing on the Dauntless flames popping up from between her small breasts. "Bold choice." he said, now bringing his gaze to Tresta's eager to please brown eyes.

"Thank you." she said with a head nod, desperately trying to hide her proud smile.

He gave a simple head nod back, which kind of irritated Fawn. He seemed to have taken well to Tresta. Never degrading her. Praising her work. 

Was she jealous? She didn't want to admit it, but she couldn't deny it either.

He then came to a stop in front of her. Passing his eyes over her in her long sleeved shirt, soaked with sweat and clinging to her body. "Where's yours?" he ordered.

She remembered not to hesitate in her response. "I didn't get one."

He arched a brow at her. "You didn't get one?" then narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you lying to me?"

She clenched her jaw. "I have no reason to lie to you."

He folded his arms, not satisfied with her answer and continued to question her instead of moving on. "And you decided not to join in our tradition because…?"

She had just about enough of him questioning every damn thing she did just for the sake of getting under her skin. "Because it would be an insult to the faction if I did so before becoming an inducted Dauntless member." she replied, matter of fact.

She felt Tresta's eyes fall on her. That was definitely not the excuse she gave her friends.

He simply laughed at her. "Who gave you that bullshit line? Let me guess. A Dauntless born."

Her heart dropped. Was Kallen just pulling one over on her for shits and giggles?

She didn't respond, but still kept her eyes on his. Apparently he didn't appreciate the fact that she'd been trying to respect his authority, even if it  _ was _ out of pure strategy. So if he was going to give her shit, she might as well earn it. The best thing she could think of to defy him was to look him directly in the eye. Show him she wasn't afraid of him. Seemed to have bugged him enough so far.

He gave her that malicious smirk and murmured. "I'll take your lack of response as a 'yes'." 

She clenched her fist at her side, hating how much he could read her. Their egos battled for the upper hand. While he may have been able to anticipate all her reactions, he couldn't punish her for them because they were what he was looking for in the first place. And he hated her for it too. She saw it in his eyes.

It was a game that she saw the two of them playing for a very long time to come.

He slowly moved on to the next initiate, leaving a lingering eye on her as he passed.

He dismissed them once he assessed the last initiate and stood next to the door as they filed out of the training room in a single line.

She felt a hot buzz of vigilance the closer she got to passing him. This time, she wasn't going to dignify his presence with eye contact. 

Just as she passed him, a strong hand grabbed her elbow and pulled her from the line of initiates. “You stay.” he growled between his teeth, keeping her pinned to his side with an unreasonably firm grip until the last initiate left.

“Do you really think I don’t know what you’re doing?” he rumbled as he watched the door slam shut, leaving them alone in the room.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she stated, trying to pull her arm back with little success. “I’m not doing anything.”

He was in motion before she realized what was happening and he shoved her against the cool, cement wall, forcing the air from her lungs. “I’m not going to ask you again.”

He still held her in his grasp. His knuckles pressed to her ribs, letting her know just how vulnerable she was to his whims.

“You already seemed to have made your assumptions,” she said through her teeth, not giving him the satisfaction of her submission as she met his icy stare with a defiant one of her own. “Anything I say won't matter to you anyways.”

“It’s not an assumption. It’s intelligence. You clearly know what that is, don’t you? Maybe you shouldn’t assume you’re the only one around here with it.” he abruptly leaned closer until she felt the whisper of his breath sweep along the side of her face. “Your ‘good little soldier’ bit might work on everyone else, but I can see right through you. I see you watching. Planning. Thinking you're going to get through initiation without me noticing. Don’t think for one damn second that you’re going to get through this without me breaking you.”

She fought the shiver before it trailed down her spine. A mixture of resentment and something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, surged through her. This son-of-a-bitch had already read her like a fucking book. “Is following orders and determination for success not what you expect of loyal soldiers? Because as far as I’m concerned, that’s the only thing I’ve been doing since I got here.” she responded with grit. She couldn’t let him have the upper hand. He couldn’t get under her skin. She had a plan that she swore to follow. And that’s exactly what she was going to do.

No matter how hard he tried to get in her head.

He yanked on her arm reminding her of how much physical power he held… and how little she possessed. “Do you think following orders and determination is what I care about? That’s not my job. My job is to tear you down until there’s nothing left, then rebuild you into a weapon.” He crushed her harder against the wall with his body. The contact was invasive enough for her to feel his chest heave in breath on her shoulder. 

She regained her poise, pulling up straighter to let him know he hadn’t gotten to her. But, there wasn’t much room. He crowded her from each side and cast a menacing shadow from above. He took complete residence in her personal space and claimed it as his own. There wasn’t even enough space for her to tilt her head up and glare at him in defiance.

That is until he released her, moving his hand to her chin and forced it up, then opened his large palm, cupping her throat in the curve between his thumb and fingers. 

Terror rose in her. Maybe she bit off a little more than she could chew. All he had to do was close his fist and she’d be out within seconds. She swallowed the fear down, but felt the movement of her throat against the strength of his hand and his eyes lit up with depraved satisfaction, triggering a sound from him that could have passed as arousal

He quickly jerked her head to the side and brought his mouth close enough to her ear to feel his lips flutter across her flesh as he spoke. “I’m going to have fun breaking you.” he whispered. “I am going to rain down on you like a black hell until I destroy every last shred of your defiance.”

He inhaled a deep breath, as if sucking in the taste of her fear and pushed off her with a low, rumbling chuckle, pleased with his effect on her.

She glared back at him, instinctively bringing her hand to her throat to rid the residual burn of his touch and caught the sight of his dilated pupils engulfing the painfully beautiful color of his eyes.

Wait. Was he…  _ turned on _ ?

Something thumped from deep below her belly as he backed away with that diabolical smile. A smile that was a weapon on it’s own.

Wait… was  _ she _ turned on?


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

He sat at his table on the upper level of the mess hall and overlooked his faction. Dauntless veterans. Members full of life and trained to kill. Dauntless born just in the beginning stages of their training. And the initiates.

The  _ fucking _ initiates.

His eyes fell on one fucking initiate in particular.

The one that's been a thorn in his side since the moment she opened her mouth.

The one that had been beating him at his own game.

The diamond in the rough.

She should have changed her name to 'Fox'.

The name 'Fawn' had been way too deceiving.

Had she been defying him to impress him? Or was he impressed that she defied him?

Or was it that she knew exactly what he was looking for in an initiate?

Of course, she had already caught his eye on the roof when he introduced himself. Her Erudite blue drew him in like a magnet. 

He had given her some lame ass comment about an Amity background to deter her from even  _ thinking _ whether or not he had already noticed her.

Granted, there was more about her than her faction of origin that interested him.

She had a face that he could stare at for hours. Eyes he had already gotten lost in. The few smiles he'd gotten glimpses of almost knocked him off his feet.

She was fucking beautiful.

… And she knew how to fuck with his head.

A large pair of hands slapped down on his shoulders. "How are they this year?" a familiar voice said as a body plopped down beside him.

Levi. The head Dauntless born trainer. And one of the few human beings he actually welcomed in his presence. 

“They’re shit.” he answered. “They’re always shit in the beginning.”

“I take it even shittier than before since the age limit was raised… again.”

Eric rolled his eyes at the mention of the age criteria. For years it was 16. But after the research on the development of the teenage brain yielded concern over impulsive decision making, the age was raised to 18. Apparently those two years were supposed to make a difference in how a person makes the decision of where they want to spend the rest of their fucking lives. 

They didn’t. The only thing those two years did was produce hormonal, confused initiates that were too old to manipulate with a few choice words, but still too young to understand the deeper meaning as to why their aptitude test produced the results they received. 

For years, initiates were simply told ‘You’re Dauntless.’ or ‘You’re Abnegation.’ or whatever faction their test results spit out and were presumed to adjust accordingly without incident.

But, that wasn’t happening. While the 16 year old initiates had a higher percentage of completing the initiation process, the number of them who defected by the time they were 21 was alarming. And not just in Dauntless. It was across all the factions.

Word was that they defected because the 16 year olds hadn’t fully developed the portion of the brain that controlled consequential thinking. The concept of cause and effect was understood, but the ability to utilize it correctly in high stress situations was spotty.

Teen angst turned out to be a really shitty adversary when trying to instill new and sometimes radically different thought processes into minds that had been molded to understand only one faction for 16 years.

The same happened to the 18 year olds. Defection by 21.

21 seemed to be the sweet spot. 

"They understand their purpose here better than the ones before, but their personalities are stronger. I have to be harder on them this time." Eric said with a sigh.

Levi snorted a laugh. "Is that possible? Have we been seeing the soft side of Eric Coulter all the years?"

"Your mom hasn't been seeing my soft side." Eric replied with a sideways glance and smirk at the corner of his mouth.

Levi cracked up. He was a sucker for a good 'Your mom' joke. "Nice one."

It was rare that he'd get a chance to show his sarcastic humor. It usually came across as a smart assed insult to one of the initiates, but the rest of them were too afraid of him to crack a smile in response. 

Too bad. Some of his shit was pretty funny.

Levi looked out the initiate tables with him. "Anyone promising?"

Eric's mind instantly flashed to Fawn. Her physicality needed work, but she had something the other initiates lacked. Her awareness of her surroundings was like nothing he'd ever seen. It was a quality that was rare… and incredibly valuable. "There's a few," he shrugged. "But it's still early."

The primary leader of Dauntless, Clay, had been on his ass to find a suitable initiate to incorporate into their leadership. Many thought that the head Dauntless leaders were all Dauntless born. Not true. His level of leadership was always composed of leaders that originated from each faction. The highest level in leadership held nine members. Himself, Clay, Blythe, Levi, Brice, Jana, Steven, Han and Ingrid. Any decisions that needed to be made for the faction went through them. Majority vote.

Blythe had been hinting for some time that she was ready to retire to the Elders. She was aging and no longer desired to have a say in the faction's decisions. She had great faith in the rest of the leadership that they'd continue to make the correct moves in order to keep the faction strong. 

That meant there'd be an opening for her spot and Eric was assigned to scout the initiates for a potential replacement.

It had been three years since anyone had shown the necessary skills it took to qualify for leadership. Dauntless born Jana was the most recent addition.

Levi had been assigned to scout out the Dauntless born trainees.

They turned it into a friendly competition.

"What about you? Any of your smug ass trainees have what it takes?" he asked.

Levi smirked. "I'm not showing you my cards. Guess you'll just have to wait and see."

They began to eat, but Eric kept finding himself glancing over to Fawn. Who was she talking to? What was she talking about? He already took note of who she hung out with and where she fell in the typical female pecking order. It was no surprise that she was the 'Listener'. Never saying much, but when she did, it appeared to be poignant.

"On a lighter note," Levi said between chews. "Which one of them got you licking your chops?"

Eric stifled a laugh. "You think I'm that shallow?"

"I  _ know _ you're that shallow." Levi answered, then pointed his chin on the direction of Fawn's table. "You haven't stopped looking over there since you sat down."

_ Shit. Quick. Think of an excuse. _ "They're my initiates. I watch every move they make. If they think the ranking system only applies in the training room, they've got another thing coming." 

"Whatever you say, man." Levi said, cutting into his food. "But I call dibs on the redhead."

Eric's heart jumped into his throat. He considered Fawn's hair as 'red'. Not that fiery orange like her friend, what's her name… Nicole? Natalie? Whatever… Not like that. Fawn's hair reminded him of rich, woody mahogany. Paired with those striking, smokey eyes… he was hooked. 

“Which one? There’s a couple of them down there.” he replied, trying to sound as uninterested as possible.

“Oh come on. You know who I’m talking about. The tall, leggy one…”

He took a mental sigh of relief. ‘Tall and leggy’ wouldn’t be his first choice of words for Fawn. Levi definitely meant Fawn’s friend.

“She looks rather…  _ limber _ .” Levi continued, emphasizing the word with a smirk.

Eric looked the girl over. Sure, she was attractive. Just not his type. “She’s ranked in seventh as of right now. She’s got speed working for her.”

He may have not remembered her name, but names weren’t important to him. He remembered performance.

As he watched on, a familiar face took a seat next to Fawn. A familiar face that he didn’t want within 50 feet of her.

Kallen.

“Guess that means she’ll be able to keep up with me.” Levi added, still enamoured by the girl to Fawn’s right.

But Eric was more interested in what was to Fawn’s left. How had Kallen managed to weasel his way into Fawn’s circle without him noticing? He needed a closer look.

An opportunity had presented itself. “Want to meet her?” he asked, shifting his eyes back to Levi. 

Levi didn’t hesitate. “Let’s do it.” he said, rising from his seat.

That was easy enough. Use the excuse of Levi’s lust to get him down there and investigate Kallen’s intentions.

Chatter quieted for a moment as eyes fell on them while they made their way down the steps into the main mess hall. He and Levi were used to it, but it was no less of an ego boost each time it happened. When any of the nine Dauntless leaders entered a room, focus automatically turned to them through pure muscle memory. Even if only for a moment.

The noise level returned to its normal state when the faction realized the leaders were just passing through and had no announcement to make.

As he made his way closer, his eyes locked in on Kallen, lifting his shirt up to his chin, apparently giving Fawn an up close and personal tour of the artwork on his chest.

What bothered him even more was the fact that she seemed to be pretty damn impressed as she gingerly reached out to trace a curious fingertip across his newest addition.

Wait. Was Kallen the one that tipped her off about his disapproval of initiates getting tattooed before their initiation was complete? 

She saw him coming from a mile away, but didn’t even acknowledge his presence as he got closer and he almost couldn’t hold in his irritation by the time he reached them. “I see you’re making nice with the initiates, Kallen.” he said when he finally came to a stop behind him.

Kallen dropped his shirt and spun in his seat to look up to Eric. “Oh. Hey Eric,” he said with a cheerfulness that made him want to punch this prick in the face and then gave a respectful nod to Levi. “Levi.”

Levi responded in similar fashion. “Kallen.”

“What brings you two down to the  _ lowly _ initiate table?” he asked, then took a peek at Fawn with a smirk.

She bit her lip to stifle the smile before it formed. Which in turn made Eric want to bite his own out of instinct.

“Wanted to see how his initiates stacked up to my trainees.” Levi informed, moving his eyes to the girl next to Fawn.

The girl looked nervous as all hell so Eric took a quick moment to be the wingman. “Told him that you were pretty stiff competition against his fastest runners.” he said to her.

The look on her face went from nervous to shocked and finally modest as she searched for words. “Oh. Well thank you. My goal is to only get better from here.”

Her response sounded rehearsed, but it was good enough for him. He honestly couldn’t care less about how fast she was. It was just an open door for Levi to slide in and take over so Eric could get back to the real reason why he was there in the first place.

“I’m Levi.” he said to her and held out his hand.

“Nadia.” she said, taking the handshake with a coy smile.

_ Nadia.  _ That was it.

Once Levi took a seat next to her, Eric knew it was safe to switch his focus back to Fawn and Kallen. “New ink?” he said, nodding to Kallen’s chest.

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his chest. “Ran into this one last night at the shop…” he gave a friendly nudge to Fawn. “Thought I’d save you both the hassle of you getting pissed off over her getting one without your approval. Word is that she’s already done enough of that to you.” he chuckled.

Eric’s jaw tightened. He couldn’t stand this fucker from the moment he met him during his first year in Dauntless. “How thoughtful of you.” he answered in his own sarcastic tone.

Kallen wasn’t stupid. It was clear that he picked up on Eric’s irritation. Which only exacerbated the issue. 

Eric’s eyes met Fawn’s for a split second before Kallen interrupted. “Hey, “ he said to her. “Did you know Eric and I were the top ranks in our classes?”

Surprise came across her face. “Didn’t think Dauntless born would concede to a tie in rankings.”

Kallen let out an obnoxiously loud laugh. “Oh, no. There’s no ties. Eric was the top ranking  _ initiate _ .”

Her eyes widened as she looked back to Eric. “Initiate?” she asked forthright, seemingly forgetting who she was addressing.

He’d let this one slide for the time being. He had no doubt she was going to speak to him candidly like that again. 

And he could only hope it would happen away from prying eyes like it did in the training room. The heat in her eyes when the other initiates were around was far different from the heat in her eyes when it was just the two of them. 

He liked it when it was just the two of them.

Kallen broke their eye contact again. “Yeah. You didn’t know? Eric’s Erudite.”

Her eyes grew even wider. And just for a second, he saw that she made a connection with him.

“ _ Was  _ Erudite.” Eric corrected.

Kallen smirked. “If you say so. But, we all know that Erudite brain of yours works differently than a Dauntless born.”

He could have knocked this asshole out and no one would question him as to why he did it, but Fawn spoke up before he made a decision.

“And what’s wrong with Erudite?” she snipped, looking slightly offended at Kallen.

A smile tugged at Eric’s lips. Point for him.

Kallen held up his hands in defense. “Whoa. There’s nothing wrong with it. I’m just saying it’s probably why he won the leadership position over me.”

Now she looked surprised. “You compete for leadership? I thought leaders were appointed.”

“We  _ are _ appointed. But, only after the evaluation process produces the two most suitable candidates. Then it goes to a vote amongst the leaders. Majority rules.” Eric answered, realizing that it was the first time he addressed her without a threat attached.

Her intrigue piqued and she sat up straighter. “What entails the evaluation process?”

Both he and Kallen shared the same pleasantly surprised look.

Kallen beat him to the question. “You thinking about leadership already?”

She must have realized her overzealous interest and reeled herself back. “Must be that Erudite curiosity,” she laughed, nervously. “Old habits die hard, I guess.”

For as much as she tried to downplay her curiosity, Eric knew she was genuinely looking for knowledge to help her rise in the ranks. He had already tagged her as potential for the position. And now that he saw she was exploring the possibility too, he knew he struck gold.

A slick grin came over Kallen’s face and he leaned closer to her. “Beauty  _ and  _ brains. Lethal combination,” then, his eyes moved to Eric’s. “Isn’t it, Eric?”

Luckily, Eric had learned long ago to control his expressions. Especially when he didn’t want someone reading him. He wasn’t going to let Kallen coerce him into admitting he thought Fawn was not only smart, but attractive. “There’s a lot more to lethal combinations than shallow ideals.” he said, folding his arms across his chest.

Kallen went to respond with probably a smart ass remark, but the direction of his eyes moved past Eric and onto something that was approaching from behind.

“Hey Tresta.” Fawn said, ignoring the two men discreetly sizing each other up.

Eric turned to find the small blonde with the tattoo between her small tits that Fawn was training with today. 

But the girl didn’t seem too interested in what Fawn had to say and turned her eyes up to him. “Um, I hope I’m not interrupting anything…”

She most certainly was interrupting, but there wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to let anyone know it. “What’s the problem, initiate?” he sighed, annoyed.

“Oh. Oh, nothing’s wrong…” she nervously babbled on. “I just… After what you said in training today, I was wondering if…maybe…”

He quickly grew more irritated with her inability to simply vocalize a thought. “Get on with it.” he urged.

“Could we use the training room during our down time?” she finally spit out.

He arched a brow at her. “For what?”

“Well… for training.”

He already pegged this girl as one of the initiates that would complete the initiation process. She listened. She was fit. She hung on to every fucking word he said. She’d make a good soldier.

But a soldier was as far as she’d get. 

“The training room is open all hours of the day,” he replied. Then, thought of a way to bring the conversation back to the reason why he was here in the first place. “And if you’re going to go, take her with you.” he turned back, blatantly pointing his thumb in Fawn’s direction.

But, she was gone. Along with Kallen.

He spun in search of her and found them halfway across the mess hall, heading in the opposite direction. Kallen’s hand placed casually on the small of her back. He’d been distracted for just long enough for Kallen to do what Kallen did best.

Get on every last one of his fucking nerves.

He watched them the whole way, contemplating whether Kallen was too blinded by his dick to remember that the initiates were off limits. To everyone. 

Unfortunately, that went especially for leaders.

Look. But, don’t touch.

“Eric?” Levi’s voice brought him back to his surroundings.

“Huh?” he said, looking back to the three sets of eyes on him.

“I asked you if you thought you’d be able to get your initiates ready in time to be ranked with my trainees.” Levi repeated himself, then drew his eyes in the direction that Eric was just looking in.

“They’ll be ready.”


	7. Chapter 7

“I don’t think Eric likes me talking to you.” Kallen said as they walked together down the dark hallway that led toward the Chasm.

“No, I just think Eric doesn’t like  _ anything I do _ .” she corrected.

Kallen shook his head. “He sees something in you. He wouldn’t have been so adamant about what I was doing around you if he didn’t. He’s trying to protect you.”

The notion was laughable. “Eric’s looking for any reason to toss me out of here. He’s only out to protect himself. I made one mistake on my first day and he’s been out for my head ever since.”

They stopped right before the bridge over the Chasm and her eyes moved to the void beneath the roughly constructed, metal walkway. “He can’t let someone who stood up to him slip by without consequence,” she concluded. “That would give a pass for every other initiate to do it too. You can’t build an army without respect from your soldiers.”

Kallen’s silence made her look back to him. He was smiling.

“What?” she asked with a confused smile of her own.

“He’s definitely trying to protect you.”

She laughed at him. “Protect me from  _ what _ ?”

“From losing your focus. You want a leadership position. And he knows damn well that you’d be perfect for it. You’re an investment to him.”

“It would take a lot for me to lose my focus.”

“Yeah? Like what?” he asked with a particular tone.

She couldn’t hide her coy smile as she eyed him up, knowing where he wanted to take this. “Don’t know. Haven’t come across anything worth my while yet.” she responded, playfully.

He licked his lips before pulling his bottom lip to his teeth and eyed her up as well. “I can make it worth your while.” Then, moved closer to her.

She wanted to squeal.  _ He’s so fucking hot! _ She could still be focused on what she wanted and let him fuck her brains out at the same time, right?

“I don’t doubt you could.” she flirted.

He made a low growl that made her toes curl as he leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Do you know how dangerous you are for me?”

Of course she knew. Initiates were strictly off limits. To everyone. Nothing was to keep them from completing their training. Especially emotions and urges mainfesting due to the opposite sex.

“You know things are only going to get worse from here.” she whispered back.

She came to terms with the fact that she couldn’t risk doing something she’d later regret with Kallen. If Eric found out, he’d throw them both into the Chasm. 

He remained close, bringing those soul-melting brown eyes to hers and his hand came to hers as a gentle brush of his fingers. “Promise you won’t tease me too much. At least until you finish your initiation.” 

A hot rush went through her. Just from a simple swipe of his fingers. His mouth looked so delicious. One little taste wouldn’t be so bad, right?

_ Focus dumbass! You can’t risk your life for a kiss! If he’s worth your while, like he said, then waiting will make it so much sweeter. _

“I promise I’ll be a good girl.” she muttered, taking her hand away, but brought it to his chest where his tattoo laid beneath his shirt. “Just as long as you keep your shirt on around me.”

He let out a small chuckle from the smirk at the corner of his mouth. “I think we have a deal.”

“There you are!” Nadia’s voice called from behind them and they jumped away from each other. The less people saw, the less rumors got spread.

“Here I am.” Fawn said cautiously, bringing her eyes back to Kallen for a split second as he bit down on his lip. God, she wanted to bite it for him.

“Eric wants you in the training room with Tresta.” her friend said, then brought her eyes to Kallen. A knowing smirk spread across her lips and looked back to Fawn. “What were  _ you _ two doing?”

Fawn shook her head, ridding the vision of kissing Kallen from her mind. “Eric what?”

“Tresta asked him if she could use the training room after hours. Guess she feels she needs to work on some things. He said ‘yeah’, but only if you went with her.”

Fawn let out a defeated sigh. More training? She was already ass whooped. “Why do  _ I _ have to go?”

Nadia shrugged. “Guess he thinks you should work on ‘form’ again.” Then, she snickered, wiggling her brows. “Maybe he wants to get his hands on you again.”

Kallen stepped forward, his voice turning hard. “He wants to  _ what _ ?”

Shit.

Fawn waved him off like it wasn’t a big deal. “It was nothing. My form was bad today. He showed me how to fix it.” 

Now if only she could convince herself it wasn’t a big deal. Even though Kallen had gotten her insides all melty… Eric had scorched her from the inside, out.

“Whatever you say.” Nadia said, interrupting the memory of Eric’s body against hers. “But, he’s waiting for you.” then her eyes moved back to Kallen. “I take it that I shouldn’t tell him I found you two together?”

“No. You shouldn’t.” Kallen confirmed.

Fawn sighed, looking back to Kallen. “I guess it’s my turn to cut it short.”

A small smile graced his lips and he leaned back into her. “Maybe it’s good we were interrupted when we were.” then, pulled back and winked at her. “Until next time, beautiful.”

She and Nadia watched him until he made the turn around the corner and Nadia broke out into giggles, shaking Fawn in excitement. “Oh my God, he’s so  _ hot _ !”

Fawn tried to calm her down. “Shhh! Don’t draw attention to it.”

Nadia gasped. “What happened? Did he kiss you?”

“No, he didn’t. Can’t take that risk.”

Nadia harrumphed at her. “You know what’s risky?”

“What?”

“Levi.”

Fawn looked at her friend. “Whoa. You’re going straight for the big guns, aren’t you?”

“Oh please. Like you have room to talk.”

“Kallen’s not a  _ leader _ , Nadia.”

“Yeah, but Eric is…”

Fawn forcibly shook her head. “No. No. We’re not going there.”

“I’d really like to agree with you, but you didn’t see how pissed he was when he saw you left with Kallen… Not to mention that he won’t offer Tresta any additional training until you show up.”

They turned and headed in the direction of the training room. “He  _ hates _ me, Nadia.”

“If he hated you so much, what was with the whole secretive pull to the side when we were leaving?” she asked with a sideways glance.

She was quickly learning how to read her Candor friends. They wanted the truth and they knew how to get it.

“Because now he’s resorted to threatening me in private.” she said, which was the total truth. She just didn’t divulge that hot, twisted spark she felt when he put his hands on her.

“What are you doing to get under his skin so much? I mean, it’s like you’re deliberately putting a target on your back.”

Apparently, her strategy had gotten under his skin. He said he saw her. He knew what she was doing. He almost made it seem like  _ he _ was threatened… or at least intrigued, in his own distorted way. 

More reason to keep with it.

“It’s a game to him,” Fawn said. “I just so happened to be the dumbass that slipped up on the first day and he saw me as an easy punching bag… so to speak.”

They pushed their way through the heavy doors to the training room. The sound echoed around them, magnifying the emptiness of the area, void of any life besides Tresta’s small figure eagerly looking up to Eric’s larger form as he stood, arms across his chest and stiff, his glare directed at Fawn.

“Nice of you to join us.” Eric said, clearly irritated as he watched her approach. “When I say I want you here. That means your ass better be here by the time I finish my sentence.” 

Such a drama queen.

“I was over by the Chasm.” she said. Everyone knew how far the Chasm was from the training room.

“The Chasm?” he asked with an arched brow and another one of those wicked smiles graced his lips. “Thinking about ridding yourself of my disappointment in you?”

She had come to expect Eric’s sadistic insults. But, Nadia and Tresta both looked horrified at his insinuation that Fawn should save them both the headache and hurl herself to her death.

Now that she knew Eric was trying to break her instead of tossing her out on her ass, she was going to continue to defy him by doing exactly what he expected from  _ other  _ initiates. “The Chasm is a reminder that there’s a fine line between bravery and stupidity,” she repeated the line the initiates were told on the day of their arrival. “I was simply reminding myself that bravery is what we, as initiates, should strive for.”

His smirk fell flat and she knew he caught on to the game. There was no way in hell he could reprimand her for responding how he’d expect someone like Tresta or Nadia to respond. Especially with them standing there. “Get to the bags.” he said between his teeth and pointed in the direction he wanted her to go.

She followed direction without further word, Tresta and Nadia following behind.

“Not you.” he said and Fawn turned to see him stopping Nadia in her tracks. “No groupies.”

“Groupie?” she asked out of pure curiosity.

“I’m not here for the three of you to play around and waste my time. An initiate took it upon herself to do what it takes to move up in the ranks,” he pointed to Tresta. “You aren’t going to ride her coat tail and think I won’t notice.”

“But I-” Nadia began to reason, but he waved her off.

“Out.”

She looked to her friends and sighed. “Guess I’ll see you guys later.” and she turned, leaving the room.

Fawn looked over to Tresta, who was staring up to Eric in awe and she just couldn’t help herself. “Well, Tresta  _ was  _ the one that bravely stepped up and showed you how serious she is about her training,” she began to reason, moving away from the bags to follow Nadia’s exit. “In fairness, she doesn’t deserve to have her extra training time be divided between two people.” 

She caught Tresta’s eyes as she moved past. The girls gaze bid Fawn a silent ‘ _ Thank you _ ’.

She didn’t even flinch when Eric reached out and grabbed her by her elbow, whipping her back toward the bags. “You’re staying right here.” he growled.

Fawn stumbled back to the bag. Of course he wasn’t going to let her just walk out of there. Their game was just beginning.

She shared a look with Tresta and shrugged an apology.

“Get in front of the bag.” Eric barked.

She and Tresta moved in unison, but Eric approached Tresta and gently pulled her away. “Not you.” he said in a shockingly soft voice. “I’m going to show you what real training is.”

The suggestiveness in his voice was borderline disturbing.

“Oh… Okay.” Tresta mumbled, nervously shifting her eyes between him and Fawn.

Fawn had to admit… She had no idea what the fuck Eric was up to.

Eric continued the soft tone with Tresta, but kept it loud enough for Fawn to eavesdrop on. “Training is not only physical, but mental too.” he said reaching up to place a finger at her temple.

The girl blushed two shades brighter and quickly nodded her head in understanding.

“If you’re going to get anywhere here, you’re going to have to think and behave like a leader.”

“A leader?” Tresta asked, breathlessly.

Eric smiled the most charming smile Fawn had ever seen at Tresta. “Yeah… I mean, isn’t that what you want?”

Now Tresta turned from pink to red and bashfully looked away. “Well, I guess… yeah…”

He took advantage of the broken eye contact and moved his gaze to Fawn, still holding that blinding smile. But, it turned to a dark grin. That same dark grin he wore when he had her here, alone, just a few hours ago. The dark grin that sent one message to her brain… and a  _ completely _ different message to her body.

It was then that she realized the sick mind game Eric was about to play.

“You have to have control at all times.” he said, focusing on Tresta. “Don’t let anyone know that you second-guess anything. When people know you aren’t decisive, they’ll walk all over you.”

Tresta nodded vigorously, hanging on to every word he said.

“Now,” he said to her, changing his gaze to Fawn which automatically drew Tresta’s to her as well. “How would you address this initiate if you wanted her to begin her drills?”

“I’d ask her to get into position first.” Tresta responded.

Eric shook his head with a slight smile. Hell, if that smile could cross wires in Fawn’s brain, it must have triggered a meltdown in Tresta’s.

“No,” he said. “You don’t ask the initiates to do anything… You  _ tell _ them.”

Clarity broke through Tresta’s face. “Oh.”

“So, I’ll say it again. How would you address this initiate if you wanted her to begin her drills?”

“I’d tell her to get into position.”

He simply nodded at her, acknowledging her comprehension. “Well, then do it.”

_ Fuck. Here it comes… _

“Into position, initiate!” Tresta ordered.

Fawn obeyed, playing into Eric’s head game and got into position. She knew right where he was taking this. He was going to have Tresta order her around like some dictator because he knew Fawn was going to respond positively to each command, purely out of defiance.

But, Tresta didn’t know that. And he was going to exploit her gullibility just for the sake of degrading Fawn in front of her friend,  _ by _ her friend. 

Despite the depravity of his plan… it was fucking brilliant.

“Very good,” he praised. “Now, what about her form?”

She refrained, with every fiber of her being, from calling ‘bullshit’ out on him. Her form was perfect. She remembered the shoulders, protected her face, kept her stance wide. She even remembered to keep her spine the way Eric showed her.

“Umm…” Tresta looked Fawn over, searching for anything to correct, then looked back to Eric for guidance.

“Don’t worry about it,” he soothed. “It takes a while to get an eye for it.” and made his way behind Fawn.

This ballsy prick was going to put his hands on her again, wasn’t he?

Sure enough, the heat of his body overwhelmed her and she felt the grip of his strong hands clasped at her waist, but this time his hips pressed flush against hers and his leg moved to hers, holding her same position.

The involuntary gasp she made was too small for Tresta to hear, but apparently loud enough for Eric to notice.

“Did you say something, initiate?” he said, practically against her hair. She couldn’t see him, but she could feel his smile as he discreetly hid his face from Tresta’s view.

“No.” she answered in a rush. Too much of a rush as far as she was concerned. He was slowly breaking into her comfort zone… and he felt it through the rigidness of her body.

“She’s stiff.” he said to Tresta and gave Fawn a little shake. “The body needs to be fluid in order to perform.”

Fawn noticed the look on Tresta’s face. Despite her trying to hide it, Tresta looked crushed. 

Of course she was. The girl had been trying to get his attention since the moment she saw him and when she finally gets him to notice her, he puts his hands all over another girl, right in front of her.

Just another sick layer of Eric Coulter.

She had no doubt he recognized the same look on Tresta’s face as he released her and quickly stepped away. “Look, I’ll show you…” he said, making his way over to her. “Get into position.”

Tresta mocked Fawn’s stance. It was flawless. Tresta was a natural athlete. But, when Eric moved behind her, her focus completely changed. Nervousness was the first thing Fawn noticed. And when he put his hands on Tresta’s waist, she totally froze.

It was almost sad how tough, little Tresta went absolutely numb just by the touch of Eric’s hands.

Wait a minute… did  _ she _ have the same reaction to him?

The thought made her nauseous. Did Eric pick up on her irrational attraction to him?

“Don’t be so tense.” Eric murmured to her. “You have to loosen up.”

Tresta quickly nodded. “Loosen up.” she repeated.

His decision to execute the same move on both girls had Fawn wondering what he was getting out of it. Was it just a control thing? Did he think he was going to make them jealous of each other? Or was there a tiny,  _ tiny _ piece of him that felt guilty for using Tresta’s attraction to him just to torture Fawn?

Two hours went by and Eric had Tresta essentially run Fawn ragged. Nothing but order after ridiculous order. She guessed Eric  _ was _ technically training them both. Fawn physically and Tresta mentally. Though it probably wasn’t what Tresta had expected.

Tresta already had a slight ego about her that came across as confidence. And Eric had only inflated it.

He dismissed them, telling Tresta that he saw potential in her. He said nothing to Fawn and only glared at her as the two girls left.

Despite his efforts to get Fawn to crack, she never complained once. Never talked back to him or Tresta and followed every direction. Her only worry was if he indeed knew what his touch did to her.

The girls walked in silence for a few seconds before Tresta spoke. “Thank you.”

Fawn looked at her, surprised those were the first words Tresta chose. “For what?”

“For all of that…” she waved her hand behind them. “Back there. You knew how important that was to me.”

The sincerity in her voice almost made it worthwhile. But, not much was going to make abuse from Eric worthwhile anyways.

“He seemed impressed with you.” Fawn said with a smile. “Leadership, huh?”

The fact that he pressed the leadership issue on Tresta was like a slap to Fawn’s face. He mocked her with it, simply out of spite and amusement.

“You know… I hadn’t really thought about it, but maybe… maybe I  _ am _ cut out for it.” Tresta admitted.

Another bad feeling in her gut. Fawn hadn’t really mentioned her interest in leadership to her friends. And now with Tresta feeling out the playing field, Fawn was going to have to keep her cards close to her chest. “You were certainly carrying on in there like a leader.” 

“Yeah,” Tresta said, remorseful. “Sorry about that. I just… got caught up in the moment.” she then stopped, causing Fawn to stop too. “No hard feelings, right?”

Fawn shook her head. She couldn’t blame the girl. “Of course not.” then she laughed to herself. “Hopefully we can remember that if and when he pits us against each other in a fight.”

“Oh, you may as well face it now,” Tresta smirked. “You’re going down.”

They laughed at the comment, but deep down, Fawn wondered just how bad things would get, the further into initiation they went.


	8. Chapter 8

She woke up sore the next morning. More sore than usual considering the punishment Eric bestowed on her. The burn only made her want to shove it in his face even more that she wouldn’t back down. 

This morning was different from the others though. They weren’t separated into their groups. Instead, they were directed to the section of the training room designated for knife throwing where the human shaped targets stood along the back wall.

Brice stepped up today. "You all have become familiar with the knives," he said, grabbing a knife from the table and casually flipped it around in his hand without even bothering to look whether the blade was going to slice him. 

Fawn watched his hand in awe, carelessly twirling the blade about as he continued speaking. “Today, you’re going to see that with a little drive, focus and a shit ton of practice, you can train your body to do  _ precisely _ what you want it to do.” 

There was something about Brice that Fawn liked. He wasn’t particularly attractive. He reminded her of a boulder. Large and immovable. He was nothing but hard, angular lines. But, despite his appearance, he was personable. A quality Eric and Jana lacked. 

“I’d like to introduce you all to Han.” he outstretched his arm, directing the group to the side and a small, unassuming man emerged from behind Eric.

Han? She had heard about Han. He was another high ranking leader, but wasn’t a part of the training like Eric, Jana and Brice for the initiates or Levi, Steven and Ingrid for the Dauntless born.

The man moved like a ghost. Seamlessly. Like he was made of liquid. While he was dwarfed by Eric and Brice, his presence commanded everyone’s attention.

Brice handed the knife over to Han and stepped away, leaving the floor open to the exotic looking man with hair as black as his eyes.

Han held up the knife for everyone to see, flashing the reflection of the dingy, overhead light. “A tool is only as powerful as the one weilding it.” he said, in an eerily natural tone.

In no less than a blur, he was in motion. The knife sliced through the air like a laser beam and impaled the target, in the dead center of the form's forehead.

_ Whoa _ . 

Han floated over to the table, full of knives and ran his fingers over them. “When you use a weapon… it must be an extension of yourself.” He chose another knife and inspected it. “You must control it just as you control the very feet that hold your weight.”

The soundless movement of his next strike was even more terrifying than the first as the knife cut through the crowd of initiates like thread through the eye of a needle and struck the very same target, now in the center of the chest.

_ Holy fuck. Han’s an assassin. _

Aside from being absolutely mesmerized by Han’s mastery, she took his words to heart as well. He preached the importance of being one with your weapon. Know the weapon as you know yourself. Understand its capabilities as well as its flaws.

Sometimes his message seemed cryptic in its delivery, but she still absorbed the information anyways. Perhaps as her training went, she’d come to understand.

He took the time to demonstrate his form, step by step and explained the minute details that made his execution so precise.

Of course, this was all learned from years of rigorous training and devotion to the craft, but he was proof that if one could bridge that gap between the mind and body, the possibilities could be endless.

Which was exactly what she intended to do.

The rest of Han’s demonstration was half education and half entertainment. And by the time he exited the training room, each and every initiate was itching to get their hands on something sharp and deadly.

Unfortunately there weren’t enough knives and targets to go around for everyone to use, so they had to rotate between the knives, bags and gun assembly.

Fawn would have to wait until after lunch for her turn.

***

“Ugh! I want to stab something so bad!” Tresta griped as she quite literally stabbed a slice of chicken on her plate. “I can’t wait to get in there!”

Nadia tore a chunk of bread from the loaf and bit into it. “I’ll admit… It was pretty badass now that we were shown the right technique.”

Nadia, who was in the first tier, got to apply the new found techniques before Fawn and Tresta, who remained in the second tier and Ainsley who would have to wait even later with the third tier.

“Speaking of new techniques,” Ainsley piped up. “How did training with Eric go yesterday? You came back so late that I was already asleep.”

Fawn bit her tongue. Not that she was eager to divulge what happened anyway. Besides, Tresta had no problem filling in the details.

“It was so awesome!” she gushed. “He said I have the potential for a leadership position.”

“Really?” Nadia asked, stunned.

Tresta narrowed her eyes at Nadia’s shock. “Yeah, really. Why? Don’t you think I have it in me?”

Nadia held her hands up in defense. “Whoa. I am totally not saying that. I’m just surprised that Eric-”

A familiar voice interrupted from above their seats. “Surprised that Eric what?”

Fawn didn’t even have to look to know it was Eric.

Nadia stuttered over her words, looking for the right thing to say. “Um… I… uh, I mean…”

Eric ignored the bumbling girl and nudged Fawn’s shoulder, then leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I need a word with you.”

She swallowed down the food she had in her mouth and contemplated what the hell he wanted. She caught Tresta’s wary eye on them, but Eric didn’t seem to notice or care as he grit his teeth and uttered with a more threatening tone. “ _ Now _ .”

She took a deep breath as she pushed herself away from the table and prepared herself for the next head game Eric was about to play.

When she turned to follow him to wherever he wanted to take her, they were both stopped in their tracks by another familiar, but much friendlier face.

“Where you guys headed to?” Kallen asked, darting his eyes between them.

“We have initiation matters to discuss.” Eric responded.

_ Huh? We do? _

“Matters that pertain only to  _ her _ and not the other initiates?” Kallen pressed.

Fawn could only watch on, cringing at the way Kallen freely spoke to Eric. If it had been an initiate, he would have cracked them across their face with one of the metal food trays.

Astonishingly, Eric simply smiled. “Well, if you were in leadership, you’d understand. But… you’re not. So, I guess it doesn’t concern you.”

_ Wow. Condescending much? _

Kallen smiled the same fake grin in return. “So nice to see you taking an active role in your initiates well-being.”

The tension between the two was so thick, it made the air around them difficult to breathe.

Eric’s hand gripped Fawn’s upper arm and he began to move, taking her with him. “I guess it’s what I do.” he snapped back with the same sarcasm Kallen displayed and proceeded to muscle Fawn out of the mess hall.

She had a feeling this little stunt of Eric’s had nothing to do with his concern for her well-being.


	9. Chapter 9

He had to get her out of there before Kallen got his paws back on her. He saw that fucker making his way over to her from the other side of the mess hall.

Over his dead fucking body.

Fawn had too much damn potential for Kallen to fuck it all up. 

He swung her into the first dark corridor they came to.

She hit the wall with a huff and he half expected her to give him an earful, but she didn't. Which was a shame. He was looking forward to bantering with her. She seemed to be a worthy adversary.

Instead, she just met his eyes with an annoyed look.

"Wipe that look off your face before I do it for you." he ordered.

She gave one last eye roll before composing herself. "What can I do for you?" she said, assuming her normal, fake, submissive demeanor.

"Cut the bullshit," he snapped. "You don't need to put on the act when it's just you and me."

Something strange stirred in his stomach after he said 'when it's just you and me'.

"Fine," she said and dropped the soldier like stance, then casually folded her arms across her chest. "What do you want, Eric?"

His eyes couldn't help but sneak a quick look at her lifted tits above her arms.

_ Damn. _

He had to make up some excuse rather than telling her the truth that he just wanted to get her away from Kallen. "I want to ensure that you aren't going to to run your mouth about what went on in the training room last night."

She arched a brow at him. "I thought you said you could see through me. Do I really seem like the kind of person that's going to divulge the fact that I let a leader use another initiate to degrade me?"

"You  _ let me _ ?" Eric scoffed. Man, this girl had some guts. "In case you've forgotten, I don't need your damn permission to train you any way I see fit."

"Is that what you're going to call this? 'Training'? I thought you were trying to break me."

Ah.  _ Now _ they were bantering. And he liked it more than he thought he would.

"I am breaking you. Piece by piece." Then he looked her over and remembered something he discovered about her yesterday. His voice lowered as if he were trying to keep it a secret, even though it was clear that they were alone. "You think I don't notice what happens when I get close to you?" 

If he had been anyone else, he wouldn't have caught the flicker of heat that flashed in those heart-stopping smokey eyes. It was there one second and gone the next. But, he knew he saw it. And it made something deep inside him growl with hunger.

"You're overbearing, Eric. It's an intimidation tactic." she responded simply with a careless shrug. "How do you know I'm not just doing it to throw you off?"

She was trying to throw him off now. It was kind of cute. But he trusted his instincts and without warning, stepped closer to her.

Her back instantly pressed against the wall to keep distance, but there was nowhere to go. She turned stiff and nervous like a cornered animal.

He smiled, letting the purr of satisfaction from his chest reach his throat for her to hear. "Because you're terrified of me."

He was actually impressed that she still met his eyes in defiance. Her short lived submission began to vanish.

"Just because the rest of the initiates are afraid of you, doesn't mean I am." she affirmed. "Maybe you don't realize it, but when you play your games with me, you expose more of yourself than what you probably want."

He froze for a second. _Wait. What?_

The fire in her eyes returned, but with a different purpose and she mocked him by whispering her revelation. "I can read you like you can read me."

He felt his upper hand on the situation begin to slip. He couldn't let her pull one over on him.

His body came closer to hers, touching his chest to her and placed both hands to the wall on either side of her head, trapping her where she stood. He tilted his head down, bringing his mouth to the level of hers and hovered. "Can you?" he asked, huskily. "Then tell me what I'm thinking right now."

He had probably overstepped his own limitations. Because instead of focusing on getting her to submit to his dominance, all he thought of was putting his lips on hers.

His willpower began to slip. It hung by a thread as her eyes moved from his to his mouth and he felt her tremble.

_ Fuuuck, Eric. What are you doing? Don't give into her. She'll just use it against you later. _

"You're thinking about getting me to submit to anything you want." she finally muttered with a quiver in her voice.

He swore he felt something inside of him crack at the insinuation of her response. It could have been understood on two levels. Mentally or sexually. And he felt she meant both implications. Her body may have been giving in on her, but her mind was there to save her.

And it turned him on like nothing he'd ever felt.

He had to get her out of there before his cock started to get hard. "Get the fuck out of my face," he growled to her and backed off. "You tell  _ no one _ about last night or what just happened here. Do you understand me?"

She took a deep breath as soon as she had space, pulled back her shoulders and met his eyes. "Yes, sir."

He pointed toward the mess hall. "Go."

She spun with a swish of her ponytail and he couldn't help but draw his eyes to her ass as she stormed away.

Then he remembered why he dragged her out here in the first place. "And stay the fuck away from Kallen!" he yelled.

She turned and glared at him one last time before opening the door to the mess hall. 

Once she was out of sight, he let out a deep breath. That was  _ way _ too close. One more second of being that close to her and he would have cracked.

He would have to torture her from afar from now on. At least until she completed initiation.

After that, she was fair game.

And that meant she was fair game for Kallen too.

He’d have about 5 months before Kallen pounced on her. 

The threat of becoming factionless to all parties involved seemed to be a good enough deterrent to keep budding relationships between initiates, initiates and Dauntless members, or initiates and leaders at bay.

The rule had been in place even before Eric arrived from Erudite.

Years ago, a few Dauntless initiates found a loophole in the initiation process. 

Pregnancy.

The females would get impregnated by Dauntless males, essentially securing their initiation. If a child had half-Dauntless blood, they would be raised as Dauntless… and the parents were made to raise the child together. But when Dauntless had turned into a nursery and the faction had become full of untrained, distracted members, drastic changes had to be made.

As cruel as it sounded, the rule had been changed to banish not only the male and female offenders, but their child as well.

Dauntless was not the faction of caring and kindness and love. That was saved for Amity and Abnegation. Dauntless were the protectors. The warriors. The ones who didn’t think twice about blowing someone’s head off if they threatened the fabric of society. It wasn’t for everyone, but they were the force necessary to keep things from spiraling into chaos. 

He knew Fawn was smart enough not to risk her life to shack up with Kallen during initiation. 

And luckily for Eric, Kallen was smart enough to know it too.

***

He waited by the table of knives for the second tier of initiates to arrive after the meal break ended. 

Fawn was part of this tier… and he couldn't wait to dish out what he had in store for her.

The initiates arrived a few minutes before they were scheduled to, signifying how excited they were for this portion of their day.

Brice's suggestion of bringing Han in to demonstrate was actually a pretty good idea for a guy who usually thought with his heart rather than his mind. It was the Amity in him.

Eric let that less than desirable quality slide considering Brice had the strength to crush a person's skull with one hand.

He directed each initiate to grab 5 knives each and position themselves at a distance from the target.

He reiterated the points Han made, taking his usual path along the line of initiates as he spoke and conveniently stopped next to Fawn when he finished. 

“Begin.” he announced and the knives began to fly.

Fawn seemed to pretend that she didn’t notice him and went about her business as if he weren’t standing right behind her.

He had to admit that he wanted to see how well she’d take to the knife throwing, but his urge to rain on her parade was too strong.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” he asked just before she launched her first knife.

The hand brandishing her weapon dropped and she turned to meet his eyes. There was a fraction of a second when he caught a glimpse of the same Fawn he had in the hallway not too long ago, but it disappeared and the fake, well-disciplined Fawn emerged. Which pissed him off to no end because she knew he couldn’t find reason to reprimand an obedient initiate in front of the others. “I’m implementing the lesson you and Han have directed.” she answered, confidently.

He shook his head. “No… I think maybe you need to work on your stamina a little more first.” 

He almost cracked a smile when he saw the fury rise in her eyes, but she remained calm, still keeping with the act he was trying so hard to break her from.

He directed her toward Brice and the bottom ranking tier as they prepared for more laps around the training room.

A little delayed gratification had never hurt anyone.

She gathered herself with a deep breath and began to head toward the group without resistance, as expected. And he couldn't help but accompany her, just to bask in the irritation radiating off of her.

"Don’t you think someone is bound to notice your irrational treatment of me?” she muttered under her breath so only he could hear.

“Who’s saying it’s irrational? You?” he mused. “Good luck trying to convince someone who matters.”

She didn’t have time to respond with a mouthy comment before they reached Brice as he stood idle watching his group of initiates race around the training room.

“Care to add to the trash pile?” Eric said when Brice turned to their approach. 

Brice’s eye moved to her and studied her from head to toe. “What she do now?” he sighed.

“She just can’t seem to keep that mouth of hers closed. Was hoping maybe you could shut it for me.”

Brice snorted with amusement. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Eric looked at her. She was so small between the two of them, it was almost laughable. “You’re his problem now.” he smirked, then turned away, fighting every urge to spin back and get one last look at her beautiful face.


	10. Ten

By the time she got back to the knife throwing, she was beyond pissed. That asshole was finding new ways to fuck with her on a daily basis. At least he backed off and kept his distance for the rest of the day. That little 'talk' they had in the hall earlier did nothing but remind her how she couldn't ignore the biological attraction to him. 

As much as her conscious tried to control every aspect of her being, natural instinct reigned. Animal attraction still ran deep in her blood. Her body craved his.

Yet, a part of her wanted him to walk past as a knife 'accidentally' slipped from her grasp and speared into his thigh.

She took the energy from her anger and directed it into the control of her release. The knives expelled from her hands as if they were extensions of her fingertips and pierced the target with precision, hitting vital spots like the head, chest… and groin.

She felt particularly proud of the groin shots.

"Remind me not to piss you off." Lex said from next to her.

Fawn was glad to see Lex had stepped it up since the beginning of initiation. While he was big and slow, his knife throwing skills were top notch. All 5 of his knives protruded from his target in a disturbingly precise cross on the chest.

"Likewise."

Ainsley, on the other side of her, had not done too bad either. All of her knives reached and stuck into the target, which was more than a lot of the other initiates could say. Even those in the top tier.

Next week was going to be interesting. The rankings will include not only athletic performance as they had for the first 2 weeks, but will also take the knife throwing and fighting tactics into consideration.

It should shake things up a bit.

As the day came to an end and they lined up to leave, Tresta came up to her with a whisper. "Do you think he'd let us do some extra training again tonight?"

Fawn sighed at her. "He's already pissed off at me, Tresta. You saw what he did to me today. He's only going to torture me more." 

"Come on.  _ Please.  _ Maybe he'll see how serious you're taking it and go easy on you."

_ Oh, if she only knew. _

"Tresta…" Fawn began to reason, but the girl had already made up her mind and stepped out of line to approach Eric.

Fawn tried to sneak past and get the hell out of there before Tresta could get the question out, but the little blonde yanked her back in, holding her in place.

_ Damn, this girl is aggressive. _

“Um, Eric?”

His eyes fell on them both and let out an exasperated sigh. “What?”

“Are we permitted to use the training room again tonight?”

He rolled his eyes at her. “I’ve already told you that it’s available any hour of the day.”

“Well, what I meant to say was… Maybe you could-”

He cut her off before she could even finish. “No.”

She blinked at his sudden answer. “No?”

“No. I’m not going to spend my evening babysitting you.” he clarified. “You want to move up in the ranks? Prove you have what it takes by disciplining yourself and taking initiative without me pushing you.”

Fawn took a mental sigh of relief as Eric pointed to the exit. “Go. I have shit to do.”

Now it was Fawn’s turn to drag Tresta away, thanking her lucky stars she wouldn’t have to endure another night under Eric’s thumb.

“We can still train tonight.” Fawn reassured her when they met up with Nadia and Ainsley who were waiting for them on the other side of the door. “Show him that you can do it without him.”

“That’s not the point,” Tresta sighed. “You don’t know how awesome it was when he showed  _ interest _ in me last night.”

The way she said ‘interest’ didn’t sit well in Fawn’s stomach and she couldn’t believe the words that came out of her own mouth as she tried to console her friend. “Well, don’t you think he’d become more interested once he sees how much you can implement what he’s taught you? We all know Eric has an ego. I think we’re all in agreement that he’d take well with you boosting it when he sees how much you’ve learned.

She hated herself for saying what she just said. Fuck Eric and fuck his ego. He needed to take that shit down a level. And Fawn wanted to be the one to do it.

The girls took their usual seats at their usual table for dinner and talked about the day. Fawn’s eyes kept a constant watch not only on Eric who was keeping an eye in her direction as well, but for Kallen too. They didn’t have much time to chat this afternoon during their break on account of Eric and she wanted to be ready for him when he made his way back to her.

Sure enough, she saw him rise from his seat with his mates and headed over to her with that killer smile of his. 

“Don’t sit.” she said to him as he reached out to grab the chair next to her.

“Huh?” he asked, stopping in his tracks. Those sweet, puppy dog eyes almost looked hurt.

“Eric’s watching.” she responded.

“So?” Kallen snorted. “Fuck him.”

She lowered her voice so only he could hear. “He told me to stay away from you.” 

“He what?” Kallen demanded and turned to glare toward the upper level where Eric sat.

“No! No, don’t look. He’ll know we’re talking about him,” Fawn urged, stopping Kallen mid turn. “We’ve got to throw him off.”

A sexy smile came across Kallen’s face. “I like where you’re going with this.”

“Where are you going to be around 9:00 tonight?” she asked, trying to hide her smile so Eric couldn’t see. “Going to be getting out of the training room by that time. I figure he can’t keep his eye on everything at all times.” she shrugged.

“My shift starts at 9 in the artillery room. Maybe I can swing by beforehand? Give you a few pointers?” he grinned.

“Guess I’ll see you then,” her eyes moved back to Eric, who had now moved from his seat to standing along the metal railing, his gaze dead set on them. “Now turn and walk away like I pissed you off good.”

“You got it. I’ll see you tonight.” he said with a wink just before his face turned hard and spun away from her.

She watched Eric’s gaze follow Kallen until he left the mess hall, then moved his eyes to Fawn briefly before turning away and stepped out of sight.

“What. Was.  _ That _ . All about?” Nadia stressed.

“ _ That _ is my reward for taking Eric’s shit.” she looked at each of her friends and lowered her voice. “I trust that none of you will repeat what just happened to Eric.”

“Of course not.” Ainsley confirmed.

“Get it, girl.” Nadia smiled.

Fawn’s eyes turned to Tresta when she didn’t respond immediately. “Tresta?”

“I plan to have Eric too distracted for him to notice.” she said with a smirk and her eyes moved up to the second level of the mess hall where Eric had been.

***

She thoroughly enjoyed her time in the training room. Peace and quiet to think, no screaming and yelling in the background. She chose the areas she wanted to work on and didn't have some overbearing oaf hovering over her the entire time.

There was that ominous feeling that she was being watched, though. She caught herself several times looking over her shoulder, expecting Eric's scowling face hiding somewhere in the shadows. But he was never there.

Then an upsetting thought filtered through her mind. He  _ had  _ gotten into her head. Even without him there, she was behaving as if he was.

It was disappointing. The whole situation. Why was she letting him dictate her thoughts? She always thought for herself. Never letting anyone influence her decisions. It was a skill she learned in Erudite. Make educated choices from the knowledge she obtained by studying her surroundings. Yet, Eric was the constant that she couldn't escape.

Then, another thought.  _ Eric's Erudite too. _

While he made it a point to clarify that he  _ was  _ Erudite at one time when Kallen called him out on it, he still used his intelligence as a weapon.

… Which was what she intended to do as her own strategy.

They were playing each other with the same game.

And with that thought, it made her wonder if she occupied the same amount of space in his brain as he did in hers.

_ Wait. Why am I dwelling on Eric so much? Kallen’s going to be here any minute. _

"Alright. That's it. I'm done." Tresta called from the punching bags, gasping for breath.

Fawn lowered her weight at the squat rack. "Are you okay?"

Tresta nodded, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "Yeah… I'm just… I get tired faster when I don't have someone yelling at me to keep going." she said, sounding confused.

Fawn almost laughed at the irony of it. "Well, if you want… I can do what you did to me last night."

Tresta shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks."

The sound of the train rumbled over the tracks overhead of the Dauntless campus. It was 8:30. She'd memorized the train schedule since there were no clocks to be found in the training room. 

The opening of the training room door turned them with a start. For a split second, Fawn imagined Eric coming through, but instead was greeted by Kallen’s smiling face.

“How’s the training going?” he asked when he got closer. “Looks like you’ve earned yourself a break.” He nodded to Fawn, apparently noting the sweat rolling down her face.

She quickly wiped it away with her sleeve, cursing herself for agreeing to meet him during her workout. She must have looked disgusting. “I think we’re just about finished here.”

“I know I’m calling it quits.” Tresta muttered, picking up her towel. “Plus, I don’t want to be here if Eric stumbles upon you two in here.” She headed for the door, lifting her arm in a casual wave. “I’ll catch you guys later.”

Fawn and Kallen both bid her goodbye before turning back to each other.

“So… you going to show me what you’re made of?” Kallen hinted, nodding toward the bags.

She suddenly felt shy and turned away with a bashful smirk. “I’m not made of much yet.” The last thing she wanted to do was spend her time with him working up another sweat.

Well, at least not the kind she could work up with their clothes on… 

But that would have to wait.

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand and led her to the bag. “I got a few things I can show you that’ll give you an edge.”

The next 20 minutes consisted of him showing her defensive tactics like blocking a punch and how to get out of a chokehold.

Even for as gross and sweaty as she felt, she couldn’t deny how much she liked his hands all over her.

The rest of the week, they met almost nightly, away from curious eyes and he would show her something new. Something that would make her forget Eric’s twisted mind games that left her barely holding on to her sanity.

He’d bring her close to breaking, but she refused to let him win. And her evening meetings with Kallen was like a secret slap to Eric’s face. Even if he had no clue, she knew she was defying him and there was nothing sweeter than defying Eric’s will.


	11. Chapter 11

She had to rely on her memory when she left the dorm. The ridiculous maze of corridors was enough to confuse even a seasoned Dauntless member. And there was no way in hell she'd ask for directions to the artillery room. Initiates had no business there in the first place.

But, when Kallen suggested they switch it up and have her come visit him in the artillery room for a change, she couldn’t say no.

She kept looking behind her, one to remember how to find her way back, but two, because she felt that same ominous feeling she felt in the training room. Like she was being watched.

Maybe it was because she was doing something she knew she shouldn't be doing. 

_ Who says it's wrong? Eric?  _ She argued with herself. There was nothing forbidden about an initiate and a Dauntless born having simple conversation. She knew not to take things too far. And so did Kallen. Eric was just being… Eric.

Ugh. Why was she even thinking about Eric anyways? Kallen was the one she wanted.

…  _ Right _ ?

"There she is." A pleasant, familiar voice called when she turned the corner.

Kallen stood in front of a large metal door. The orange, fluorescent light warmed his complexion against the damp, stone walls.

She approached him with a coy smile. "Hey." she said, taking in the sight of him.

His eyes blatantly traveled down her as well. "Damn." he muttered.

She most certainly wasn't going to wear the clothes she worked out in. So she wore a pair of black skinny jeans and a black, low cut tank.  She wasn't used to showing her cleavage, but when her friends told her 'If you've got it, flaunt it.' she stepped out of her comfort zone and showed some skin.

"What?" she asked, looking down at herself

“I asked you not to tease me.” he said breathlessly.

“Oh, cut it out.” she laughed with a playful nudge.

He reached behind himself and grabbed the knob, opening the door to the artillery room. “Come on in.” he gestured her inside. “This hallway isn’t the best place to be after hours.”

She stepped inside and couldn’t help her curiosity. “What goes on after hours out there?”

“Leaders use it as a cut through from the Pit to their living quarters.”

A stray thought of running into Eric out there put her in a slight panic.

“Bur traffic’s a little slower on Tuesdays. They’re usually holed up in their apartments by 9:00.”

He led her into a surprisingly well-lit room where 2 other guys sat at black, metal desks with computers. There was a counter that oddly reminded her of a bartop and another large metal door behind it. “This is Aiden and Marco. Guys, this is Fawn.”

The two guys looked up from their computers and greeted her as if they’d known her for years.

“Sup, girl?”

“Hey Fawn.”

Kallen’s gaze turned to the metal door behind the counter. “And Ivan’s somewhere back there with his girl.”

“Third floor, under the 40 cal rack.” Marco said from his computer. “Asshole even confiscated a mattress from the initiate dorm to stuff under there.”

_ Huh. So that’s what happened to it _ . She thought. When the two initiates that never woke up in time on their second day suddenly disappeared, their beds had been removed from the dorm by the time the initiates returned from training for the evening.

Kallen laughed and shook his head. “Guess we’ll be avoiding that part of the tour.” Then, he took Fawn’s hand and gently pulled her around the counter and to the metal door. “Come on. I want to show you something.” he said with that heart-melting smile.

“Oh. Okay.” she responded with her own smile, excitement starting to rile up in her.

“You guys got this covered?” Kallen asked the guys just before he opened the door.

Aiden waved him off without even looking up from his screen. “Go.”

As soon as Kallen opened the door, she was stunned. Nothing but rack upon rack of weapons, stretching beyond the reaches of the light overhead. Guns. Bullets. Body armor. Tactical gear.

She was speechless. She knew Dauntless were in charge of protecting the factions, but she had no idea the range of firepower they possessed.

“Kind of intimidating, huh?” Kallen finally said.

“That’s putting it lightly.” she muttered, letting her curiosity guide her deeper into the room. The first rack of shelves she reached housed the body armor. Vests and helmets. She ran her fingers along a vest, wondering if it had ever seen any action.

“Care for a tour?” he suggested.

“That sounds great.”

A little thrill shot through her when he grabbed her hand and took her through the maze of shelves. The deeper they went, the less her inhibitions got in the way. She liked how large his hand felt around hers. She liked the definition of his muscles as they flexed beneath the fitted black t-shirt on his athletic frame. She even liked how the fade of his fresh haircut made the back of his neck look so damn…  _ sexy _ .

She would love to drag her nails through that thick, chocolatey hair and down the strength of his neck.

He brought her to more tactical gear, stopping to have her put on a vest, helmet, pads and a ton of other crap that was way too big on her. He cracked up as she almost toppled over from the weight of the gear and he had to hold her steady.

She would have preferred to have much less on as he put his hands all over her, but it was better this way. Safer. Much safer.

“Wanna check out the trucks?” he asked as they removed the gear from her.

“Hell yeah!” she exclaimed. She had never really gotten an up close look at a vehicle other than the train and they always fascinated her. There was no need for them unless people traveled from one faction to another and usually they were reserved for upper levels of leadership. The Dauntless trucks seemed so intimidating when she was back in Erudite. She’d spot them from the window in her classroom or from her father’s lab when the Dauntless subjects were scheduled for a study.

They took an elevator to a ground level. She noticed that there were 5 total levels on the elevators control panel. And here she thought Dauntless only had 3. More information to store for a later date.

She was greeted by another awe-inspiring sight when the elevator doors opened. Trucks. Rows and rows of identical trucks lying in wait. There had to be well over a hundred of them, packed into a cavernous room that dwarfed the training room. And the smell was nothing like she smelled before. It wasn’t particularly bothersome, but it was distinct. “What’s that smell?” she blurted out, not realizing how it sounded until it was too late.

He laughed at her. “You get used to it after a while. I think it's the combination of the gas and oil. Rubber from the tires… maybe a little rust here and there.” He waved for her to follow him. “Come on. I’ll let you get in the driver’s seat.”

He effortlessly climbed the footholds up the side and popped open the door, swinging it open for her. “Your chariot awaits, my lady.” and motioned her in with a grand wave of his hand.

She didn’t hesitate and clambered up the side, pulling herself into the compartment with a surprisingly comfortable seat.

She took in everything. All the gears and switches. Buttons and levers. She slid her hands around the large steering wheel and looked out the front window. “How do you maneuver these without destroying everything in its path?” she laughed.

“The handling is surprisingly smooth for as large as they are. Takes a bit of practice, but the cool thing about them is that they’re equipped to destroy everything in its path. Fences. Barriers. A revolting mass of factionless rebels."

Her brows rose at his last statement. Sometimes it was easy to forget the dangers of the outside world when you’ve been cooped up in a concrete fortress for over three weeks. Even back at Erudite, she was always told to avoid certain streets and buildings of the city due to where the factionless camps were stationed.

She always tried to understand factionless reasoning, but she couldn’t. Of course not everyone fit perfectly into one distinct faction. People had a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but one trait reigned supreme. Or at least there was enough interest in one faction to know that’s where one belonged. And being factionless wouldn’t be so bad if they just contributed to society like the rest of the factions did instead of constantly undermining the faction system. They didn’t want rules. They didn’t want order. All they wanted was to take. Take from the organization that the factions built and never give anything in return. Like they were entitled to what everyone else had, but never worked for it. There had to be tons of brilliant minds that knew what it took to organize a successful faction within their camps, but none of them took the initiative to do so. Rumor had it that they were offered to be accepted as a sixth faction if they could organize themselves and be a contributing factor to the system, but not enough of them had the desire. So, they remained shunned out from the rest of society. Aside from Abnegation that fed them regularly. While it was the humane thing to do, Fawn had always wondered if Abnegation was being taken advantage of.

"But, it's rare that we have to bring these things out in large numbers. Four or five of them are enough to deter them from thinking about attacking any of the other factions for their resources." Kallen said, breaking her train of thought.

She looked at him. He was so casual about it. She searched for the right words to ask what was on her mind. "Have you ever… had to… go out there?"

His eyes turned somber. "It's what we're here to do, Fawn. Of course I've been out there."

She shook her head. She mustn't have been clear enough. "No, I mean… have you ever had to-"

"I know what you meant." he replied. "And the answer still stands. It's what we're trained to do. When a threat is posed to our society, we have to do what it takes to keep it from progressing." He paused a moment to think his next statement out. "For as much as I don't like putting a bullet in someone, it's either them or me."

She took his response to heart. It  _ was  _ what she signed up for after all. "This is the kind of stuff our leaders should be teaching us. I don't think a lot of the initiates grasp the reality of what it is that we're training to do."

"The ones who don't get it, won't make it through initiation anyways." Kallen said, simply.

"Well… that's half the problem right there." she concluded.

He looked at her like she was speaking a different language. "What do you mean?"

She spun in the seat of the truck and looked at him as he still hung on to the bar outside the door. "I mean, we're training them with Dauntless skills and then kicking them out. I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't use that knowledge to their advantage."

Kallen's eyes fell to his feet in thought and his voice turned somber. "What other option do we have?"

She took a deep breath, looking out to the silent rows of armored vehicles. "I don't know."

They were quiet for a moment before he gave her a nudge. “Right now, we don’t have to think about that.” he said with an enthused voice, obviously wanting to change the subject. “That’s an issue for the leaders to discuss. Not us.” 

He held out his hand to assist her from the truck and they climbed down. The sound of the door slamming shut echoed around them.

_ It’s an issue for the leaders to discuss. _ She ran over in her mind. It was an issue she was gravely concerned about. She intended to be one of those leaders at some point for that exact reason.

“They got you on gun assembly yet?” he asked, peeking at her from the corner of his eye with a smirk.

“We’re supposed to get deeper into it this week. What we’ve gotten so far was more dictating and less hands on, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I got you… good thing you’re in the artillery and you can pick any damn gun you want to get an early practice on.” he said, matter of fact. The response was smug, but cute at the same time and she couldn’t turn the offer down.

“Really?”

“Really. I know each and every gun from the inside out. What did they start you off on?”

“It’s just a small handgun. They didn’t tell-”

“9 mil.” Kallen said, cutting her off. “Lethal from 50 meters. Magazine capacity of 15 rounds. Stainless steel barrel and slide to prevent rusting. Minimal recoil. Weighs 1.8 pounds when loaded. 7.1 inches long. 5.4 inches tall and has a barrel length of 3.9 inches.”

She stopped in her tracks. “You weren’t kidding.”

“Just wait until you get to the M16s.”

He took her through the rest of the floors, leaving out a certain portion of the 3rd floor for obvious reasons and gathered supplies along the way. 2 guns. Bullets. Empty magazines. Then brought her back to the front room where Aiden and Marco still sat at their desks.

Kallen dropped all the items on the counter. "Let's start you off with something easy." he said, grabbing an empty magazine and a box of bullets "Loading the magazine."

It sounded simple enough. She watched him swiftly pop the bullets in one at a time until it was full, then slid the other empty magazine to her along with the box of bullets. "You try."

Upon closer inspection of the magazine, she found that it was spring loaded, meaning the bullets didn't just drop in, but had to be forced in against the pressure of the spring. The closer it got to being full, the more force she had to use to insert the bullet.

He chuckled at her when she grunted as she inserted the last bullet.

"Don't your fingers hurt after you fill it?" she asked, flexing and wiggling her fingers to loosen them up.

"You'll get used to it after they have you fill 10 at a time… pretty much every day until initiation is complete."

"Oh." she groaned. "Can't wait."

"Maybe you'll like assembly a little more."

She watched in amazement as he took apart the gun with seemingly no effort and laid the parts out for her to see.

"Frame, magazine, slide, spring and barrel." he said, pointing at each part.

He showed her how to clean everything and reassemble, then did it two more times, making sure she watched each step.

"Now you try." he said, sliding the second gun over to her.

He had her disassemble her gun as he did the same with his. Had her inspect each part and reassemble alongside him. He made it seem so easy. Then again, he'd probably done it thousands of times.

"Think you can do it without me this time?" he asked.

"Doesn't hurt to try." she said as she began the disassembly again and thought it would be nice to tell him what she was thinking. "You know, you're pretty good at this."

He snorted a laugh. "What? Taking apart guns? I've literally done this ten thousand times."

"No," she said as she released the slide. "Teaching." Then she took out the spring. "You're a natural at it. Have you ever looked into becoming an instructor," she removed the barrel and set it down, completing her neat line of gun parts and pointed to each one. "Barrel, spring, slide, frame, magazine… or thought about taking another shot at leadership?"

When she brought her eyes to him she was met with a weary look on his face. "What?" she asked.

"Uh… in case you haven't noticed… Eric and I don't really get along."

She waved her hand at him "Meh. He's just one person. There's plenty of other-"

"He's Clay's right hand, Fawn. If Eric doesn't want you to move up in rank. You don't move up. Plain and simple."

"Well, he  _ is  _ right hand for a reason. Maybe doing what he expects of people might not be such a bad idea."

"What?" Kallen scoffed. "Now you're  _ defending _ him?"

"I'm not defending him. I'm just saying that if you understand his logic as to why-"

" _ Nobody  _ understands his logic. The guy's a sociopath."

Geez. She understood Eric's logic just fine. Unconventional? Sure. But, effective as hell.

Wait a minute. Did that make  _ her _ a sociopath?

"Forget Eric," she waved her hand, dismissing the thought of him. "I just thought you'd make a great instructor. You don't complicate things. I feel like I can learn this a lot easier than if Jana was teaching me."

"Well, consider yourself lucky, because I have no desire to instruct a group of dipshit initiates… No offense."

"None taken," she laughed. "I'm finding ways to use their idiocy to my advantage."

"But you on the other hand…" he crept a little closer to whisper. "I can be your personal tutor any time you'd like."

She turned her body toward his, bringing herself dangerously close to all the yummy things on him that she'd like to touch. "I think I can use that to my advantage too."

He scraped his teeth over his bottom lip, eyes traveling down her. "How much longer until initiation is finished?"

The heat she felt rising between them almost instantly fizzled out. "5 months." she groaned.

He groaned too, but that deep voice of his still made it sexy as hell. 

Just then, the door to the artillery swung open and a tall blonde guy stepped out with a petite brunette on his arm. "What I miss?" he asked immediately when he saw Fawn standing there with Kallen. "We get a new tech?"

"No," Aiden said. "That's Kallen's  _ special friend _ , Fawn."

"Fawn?" the girl spoke up. "The initiate that told Eric off?"

"Okay, that is  _ not _ what happened. Why does everyone think I'm that dumb?"

"Yeah. It's her." Kallen said.

"How are you still alive?" The guy, who she assumed was Ivan, asked. "Do you know I've seen him knock someone out for just looking at him wrong? And more than once."

"He likes her." Kallen revealed.

Fawn snapped her head back. "He _ what _ ?"

"Oh come on, Fawn. Refusing to train that other initiate unless you were there? Pulling you away to have a private talk about 'initiation matters'? Telling you to stay away from me? And what was that bullshit your friend said about him getting his hands on you again?"

She stammered. "Uh… um…" She never would have ran that thought through her head in a million years. Eric hated her. Plain and simple. He hated that she defied him and there was nothing he could do about it. He hated that she played his game to her advantage. And he hated that she figured him out so quickly. "He's just trying to intimidate me because I spoke up on the first day. He has to make an example of me."

It was a viable excuse.  _ Excuse? No, that's the truth. Eric does  _ not _ have a thing for you, Fawn. _

It would be disastrous if the attraction was mutual.

Like the disaster that almost ensued last week when he trapped her between his arms in that dark hallway and brought that mouth excruciatingly close to hers. She swore for a split second that he wanted to taste her as bad as she wanted to taste him.

_ What are you doing, dumbass?  _ She scolded herself.  _ Kallen is standing right there in front of you and you're thinking about another guy? _

"Yeah. We'll see." Kallen said. "But I wouldn't find myself alone with him if I were you." 

The warning in his voice made her heart skip a beat. What did he mean by that? Sure, Eric was cold hearted but she didn't take him for a guy who would force himself on a woman to dominate them. He publicly asserted his dominance in the training room enough. And he sure as hell wouldn’t need to do it for sexual relief. All he’d have to do is snap his fingers and a dozen girls would line up, at the ready for him. Tresta and Jana heading the front of that line.

Besides, she had already found herself alone with him twice and she thought she handled him pretty damn well… aside from that little flame inside her that grew hotter the closer he got. But, she wasn’t going to tell Kallen that. “I’ll take that advice to heart.” she said.

The brunette, Lyndi, announced that she had to head back to her apartment before her roommate sent out a search party for her and Ivan led her out to say goodbye in private.

A slight tinge of envy pricked at Fawn. How nice would it be to have her own private living space? Private bed? Private bathroom? She wondered what Kallen’s place looked like and if he’d ever just let her take a private nap. Full nights of sleep were still hard to come by even three weeks in.

After Ivan came back in, Fawn took her turn to suggest it was time for her to go too. It was late and sleep was a precious commodity during the early stages of training, plus who knew how long it was going to take her to get back to the dorms.

Kallen walked her back out to the desolate, shadowy hallway. The faint hum of the dim lights overhead seemed to enhance the overall foreboding feeling.

“Thanks for showing me around,” she said, keeping herself close to him. “That was a lot of fun.”

His voice grew husky. “Thanks for the visit,” he replied as he leaned back to the wall, reaching out to grab the hem of her tank and tugged her closer. “Can we do this again?”

She was close enough to press her body snug against his and placed a hand on his chest. She could feel the rapid pulsing of his heartbeat as his hands slid around her waist. “I’d like that.” she whispered, feeling that familiar, sweet burn below her belly. 

“You know what I’d like?” he muttered, rubbing his thumbs along her ribs.

She was almost hypnotized by his touch. “Hmm?”

“A kiss goodnight.”

Her hand stopped it’s gentle exploration of his chest and she met his eyes. They were full of nothing but hunger. Which made her yearn for it just as much as him. They were edging into that forbidden territory that was so hard to come back from, but the need for it was just too strong. They’d been resisting all last week and it was becoming increasingly difficult. “One little kiss.” she reasoned with a quiver in her breath. “Just one.”

He licked his lips as they formed that sexy smile of his and leaned in, letting his lips flutter over hers as he spoke. “Just one.”

Her insides coiled tight and released a beautiful tremor through her as his lips pressed against hers in a soft, slow kiss. It was tender and sweet and so damn perfect. His fingers curled into her shirt as she pressed back and he opened his mouth a little more, moving deeper into the kiss.

_ Oh fuck. He has a nice mouth. _

But that little voice in the back of her head told her it needed to end before they got too lost in each other.

She reluctantly pulled back just as his tongue met her bottom lip with a tiny lick. “We should stop.” she whispered.

He rubbed his nose on hers. “Is that all I get?” he sighed.

She licked her lips, trying to savor the taste of him. "We have 5 months. If we go further, we're going to get bored with it and start pushing those boundaries real quick. And neither of us should take that risk." 

He breathed out something between a groan and a growl and slid his hand down her back. "I hate that you're right."

She backed away from him, leaving a hand on his chest. "You can thank me later." she flirted with a wink.

He smiled, holding her hand to his chest for as long as he could as she continued making space between them. "What did I tell you about teasing me?"

She returned a coy smile, finally slipping her hand from him and broke the contact. "Goodnight Kallen."

His eyes ran down her one last time and he bit his lip. "Goodnight beautiful."


	12. Chapter 12

Eric sat at the bar, nursing his drink. He just needed something to take the edge off. He was second-guessing why he said 'No' to that little blonde and her recurrent training requests. He could have definitely gone for another night of playing around in Fawn's head.

If he was in her head, that meant there was no room for Kallen in there.

He didn't know what to make of that little scene in the mess hall where she apparently told him to piss off last week. He had a hard time believing that she'd follow his order without some kind of resistance that only she could pull off. But, he hadn’t seen them together since.

"Something's definitely bothering you." A voice said from behind him. He spun in his stool to find Jana taking the spot next to him.

"Just thinking." he said, taking note of how she was dressed. Short leather skirt, knee high boots and sheer top that did nothing to cover up the black bra she wore underneath. "You got a date or something?"

She crossed her legs. "No. Why?"

_ Because you're dressed like you're looking to get plowed.  _ He thought.

He shrugged his shoulders as a response and went back to his drink.

"So what's on your mind?" she asked after she ordered her drink. "You don't come down here on Tuesdays. Let alone have a drink."

He shrugged again. "A lot of shit to think about. These fucking initiates are-"

"Forget the initiates," she waved her hand. "You worry yourself over every little thing they do."

"That's my job, Jana.  _ Our _ job."

"Exactly. It's our  _ job _ . Are you working right now?"

He took another sip. "No."

"Then why are you thinking about it? You're so fucking intense all the time, Eric. Just let it go once in a while."

He snorted at her. "Like you have room to talk about intense. Over half of those initiates are twice your size and they're terrified of you."

"And rightfully so," she took a gulp of her drink when the bartender brought it over. "But, I can turn it off when I want. You can't."

"I can turn it off." he defended.

"No you can't." she said and reached over to give him a shove, but he didn't move. "Look at you, you're so tense right now, you won't even move."

"That's what this is for." he replied, holding up his drink.

"You need more than a drink to loosen you up."

He leaned back in his seat, wondering how far she was going to push him. "Then what would you suggest?" and swirled his drink before downing the last of it.

She spun in her seat, turning her body toward him and propped her elbow on the bartop resting her chin on her fist. “I don’t know.” she said with a shrug as she bounced her crossed leg and reached behind her ear to twirl a piece of her short, black hair around her finger, her eyes moving up and down him. “Maybe you need a distaction.”

The motion of her leg and the subtle toying with her hair suggested a hint of anxiety.

Jana? Anxious? Not her usual demeanor. As a matter of fact, the whole situation was odd. Her concern over what he was thinking. The playful attempt to get him to relax. Her slutty get up. It was almost like she was trying to get him to…

_ Shit. Is she flirting with you?  _ H e wondered as her eyes remained steady on him while she took a drink.  _ Fuck. She is. _

He instantly began to think of ways to remove himself without her catching on that he knew what she was up to. Try as she did, Jana just wasn’t his type. Not many girls were. While he respected a physically strong, skilled Dauntless female that could kick anyone’s ass if she chose to do so, he wanted a little more in the ways of a companion. He wanted a woman who could use her brain just as well as her physical strength when it came to gaining the upper hand. And unfortunately for him, the majority of the fit females in Dauntless didn’t have much in the way of a womanly figure. While they were certainly trim and graceful, they lacked the sensual curves that sent a man’s instincts into overdrive.

When he was with a woman, he wanted to  _ know _ he was with a woman. Jana’s board-like figure didn’t do anything for him. He wanted to be able to hold on to something if he was going to get laid. 

“The only distraction I needed was to break my routine and have a drink when I usually don’t.” he said, hoping she’d get the idea that he had no intention of doing anything reckless.

“Sounds pretty lame to me.” Jana challenged.

_ Oh. Now she’s resorted to insults _ .

“Let’s not put labels on each other’s logic,” he waved at the bartender with his card in his hand, signifying that he wanted to clear his tab. “Or do something that one of us will regret later on.”

The bartender came over and scanned his card as Jana scoffed at him. “I don’t regret anything I do.”

He stuffed his card back in his pocket and pushed himself away from the bar. “And neither do I.” he said, getting up from his stool. “See you tomorrow.”

He felt the scorn radiate from her as he passed. 

He thought his vague responses would have been good enough to throw her off from thinking he was blatantly turning her down. He really didn't want a spiteful Jana lurking over his shoulder. She tended to get a little crazy if things didn't go her way. There had been times when leader meetings almost came to blows when Jana disagreed with the decision.

He took the service elevator to the third floor to cut through the vacant hallways so he wouldn't have to make his way through the Pit, around the Chasm and past the leaders offices to his apartment. He didn't feel like taking the risk of running into someone who needed his assistance over some stupid bullshit they could figure out on their own. 

He just wanted to let his drink do it's thing and lull him to sleep without his fucking brain running rampant.

He stepped off the elevator and made his way down the damp, cold hall. These halls were rarely used any more aside from the artillery and surveillance workers. He recalled the days when he and his ex, Tiffani, would sneak into the artillery room and she'd blow him in one of the trucks.

Man, she certainly knew her way around a dick. 

The only downside side of it was that she found her way around other dicks behind his back.

Bitch made some pathetic excuse that she felt neglected because he worked so much and never made time for her.

It made for awkward trips to the infirmary now, considering she was a nurse.

As he turned a corner, he picked up on the faint sound of footsteps that didn't seem to fall in line with his pace and he stopped to listen.

Sure enough the footsteps came from around the next turn. They weren't at a steady pace though, almost sounding hesitant. 

Someone was lost. And if they were lost, that meant they shouldn't have been there in the first place.

He quickly turned the corner and found a lonesome female deciding whether to take a left or a right at the next intersection.

But it wasn't just any female. That hair and that ass belonged to one initiate in particular. He'd recognize that fine ass from a mile away.

She chose to take a right, but must have caught a glimpse of him from the corner of her eye as she turned, locking her gaze with him just before disappearing behind the wall.

“Hey!” he shouted. 

The only response was the sound of hasty footsteps rushing in the opposite direction.

He took off running after her. He knew damn well that she saw him. And she openly disrespected his order for her to stop.

He turned the corner and caught a glimpse of her hanging a left, running just as purposefully as he was.

Lucky for him, he knew these halls a hell of a lot better than she did.

He dashed halfway down the hall and ducked through a door, situated on his left. The surveillance room.

“Oh. Hey Eric,” the tech, George, that assisted him from time to time said as he rushed past. “What’s going on?”

_ No time to chat. _ He thought as he snaked his way through the array of desks, housing dozens of computer screens that monitored each and every corner of the Dauntless campus. “Just cutting through.” he muttered just before exiting the room and entered another one. His brisk pace turned into a jog. If she was heading back to the dorm, he’d have to hurry in order to cut her off.

His final obstacle was a desk, situated in front of the door that led back to the hall. Instead of rounding it, he planted his hand on the top and swung his feet over without so much as even the laces from his boots making contact with the desk in one effortless hop.

He swung open the door with no sign of her in sight. There was no way in hell she made it past him. She was getting faster by the day, but she still wasn’t as fast as him.

He positioned himself just before the hall cut into another turn and he counted it down.

_ 3… 2… 1… _

Her body collided with his as she came careening around the corner, looking behind her for him instead of keeping her eyes forward. She bounced off of him and stumbled back, totally dumbfounded as to how he stood before her.

“Going somewhere?” he asked with an arched brow.

The look on her face was pretty damn cute. It was rare to find her confused. He was going to enjoy this.

“I… How… You…” she stammered.

“How did I catch you? Is that what you’re trying to stutter out? I know every fucking square inch of this place. My question is: What in the hell are you doing up here?”

She visibly collected herself and pulled her shoulders back. “I couldn’t sleep.” she admitted. “Decided to take a walk.”

He folded his arms across his chest and her eyes skittered down to the motion.

_ See something you like, sweetheart? _

“And how exactly did your little excursion wind you up here? Where initiates have no business.”

She shrugged. “Must be that… Erudite curiosity.” she suggested with a hint of diversion.

_ Nice try. That line worked on me the first time. Not going to happen again. _

“Cut the shit.” he snapped. “Initiates aren’t supposed to use this hallway.”

Her eyes moved obnoxiously about the hallway. “Hmm. Funny. Didn’t notice any sign saying ‘No initiates allowed’.”

He sucked on his teeth, trying to hide his annoyance. She was getting bolder around him. And that simply couldn’t happen. His eyes rolled down her, noticing a very different Fawn than what she displayed during the day. He knew she was hiding something under all that obscure clothing she used to cover herself up. There wasn’t much she could do to hide the swell of her tits, but holy fucking shit she was  _ stacked _ . “Is that the usual attire someone wears when they’re wandering alone after hours?”

She looked down at herself and paused for a second. He could see her running multiple responses through her head, searching for the most viable option, but he didn’t give her the chance to choose and put the pressure on her a little more. “I mean, from the looks of things, it appears you’re oblivious to the kind of men Dauntless produces.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “From the look of  _ what  _ things?”

He casually leaned his shoulder against the wall. She knew exactly what he was getting at. “You should think about keeping things under wraps until you can learn to defend yourself.”

“I can defend myself just fine.” she insisted, then took advantage of his position against the wall and strode past him with an admirable sense of confidence.

He almost thought about letting her go. Almost.

He lazily reached out, not even bothering to change his stance and grabbed her by the elbow, effortlessly yanking her back around to face him.

Damn. He was beginning to like that little move of his. 

“The only thing you have to defend yourself with is that mouth of yours.”

She jerked her arm from his grasp. “And yet, you discourage me from using it.” she said through her teeth.

“Certain circumstances require different defenses,” he stepped toward her, reminding her how much larger he was than her. “Your mouth isn’t going to save you when you find yourself cornered by someone who wants something other than conversation from you.”

She folded her arms, tucking them snug beneath her tits. “I wouldn’t put myself in a situation like that in the first place.”

His brows rose. “You wouldn’t?” he asked as he invaded her space more, his chest coming into contact with her crossed arms and worked her back against the wall with minimal force. “Because it seems to me that you just did.”

He was beginning to like that little move of his too. Not only because of his proximity to her, but because it triggered that tiny spark in her eyes that she tried so desperately to hide.

“Oh, come on now, Eric.” she mocked in a pitied voice. “You wouldn’t bring yourself down to that primitive level just to scare me. I had higher expectations of you.”

_ This little bitch. _

"Are you challenging me?"

"Based on your reaction, I guess you think I am."

_ You want to kick things up to the next level, beautiful? Let's see how much you can take. _

"Challenge accepted."

He yanked her away from the wall and shoved her down the corridor. In the opposite direction of the dorms.


	13. Chapter 13

After about 20 steps, with him following closely behind to ensure he could grab her if she thought about taking off, she slowed her pace to a shuffle, causing him to run into her backside.

"I didn't tell you to fucking stop. Keep moving." he growled, giving her another shove.

"Where are we going?" she asked with an annoyed sigh as she continued down the hall.

"I suggest you shut the fuck up and pay attention to where you're going. I'm not going to navigate you back if you manage to make it through."

"Make it through  _ what?" _

"You'd better learn to curb that 'Erudite curiosity' or I will gladly return you to them."

"Even  _ you  _ can't do that." she snickered.

She was clearly not getting the fact that he had total control over the situation. Perhaps he had to stop being so nice to her.

He moved swiftly, pushing her to the side with a sweep of his arm and pinned her to the wall with his forearm tucked beneath her chin, pressing against her throat.

He pulled his switchblade from his pocket with his other hand and held it up for her to see, then sprung it open, prompting her eyes to widen. He gently dragged the flat edge of the point down her shoulder, past her collarbone, around the swell of those magnificent tits and stopped just as he reached that tantalizing valley between her breasts. The motion was firm enough for the tip to form a depression onto her yielding skin but soft enough not to damage that pretty, pink flesh.

"I most certainly can return you to them. In a box… In several pieces." he muttered softly, keeping his eyes on his blade as he brought it to the fabric of her neckline and used it to draw the shirt down further, revealing more of her mouthwatering curves. "I'm sure Daddy's lab could put your parts to more use than what you can contribute to us here as a whole."

He finally brought his gaze back to her eyes when he finished getting a long enough look at her chest to burn the image in his memory. 

Ah. Now  _ that _ was genuine fear. It was about time he got it from her.

Too bad it took him threatening her with sending her dismembered body to her father in order to get it through her head that he had the control.

But her fear made him feel different from what he thought it would. He thought it would make him feel victorious. That he'd finally conquered her. But it didn't. It made him want her more than ever. He uncovered a part of her that no one else had likely ever seen and it was all his for the taking.

He couldn't fucking win with her. She defied him, it turned him on. She submitted to him, it turned him on. The only thing he could do now was push her harder until she shattered.

He released her and shoved her once again to walk ahead of him. "Go."

_ Damnit, Eric. It's  _ her  _ limits you're trying to push. Not your own. Stay focused.  _

She remained silent the rest of the way. That pesky conscious of his kept telling him that his plan for her might be overkill. He finally frightened her. Her bruised ego should have been enough punishment for her. But his own ego wouldn't let him give in. She needed to know that his authority wasn't up for debate.

He needed to remind her of her place.

He fished around in his pocket for his keys when they got close. "Stop." he ordered.

She did as she was told, but he saw her curiosity eat at her. She stared at the black, metal door that looked no different than any other door except for the placard that read the number 315.

He unlocked the door and pushed it open, then pointed her to the dark room inside. "In."

She didn't move, but instead looked at him with apprehension.

He stepped toward her and grit his teeth as he breathed down in her. "Get your ass in there, Fawn."

She took a deep breath and entered, accepting her fate with grace. He followed her in, shutting the door behind him, momentarily surrounding them in darkness before hitting the light switch on the wall.

The room filled with dim light and he watched her for a second as she took in her surroundings.

He’d allow her to ask the one question he knew she had on her mind.

“Is… Is this your apartment?” she stuttered, still eyeballing every square inch of the place.

“Yes,” he answered, locking the door behind him. “Allow me to give you a tour.” he offered sarcastically and grabbed on to her arm once more, pulling her along with him.

There wasn’t much to tour considering the open concept of the place. “Living room,” he stated, dragging her through the room. “Kitchen.”

He almost laughed at the state of confusion on her face, but held it in because things were about to get difficult… for the both of them.

He pushed her hard enough for her to stumble into the glass door that led to his balcony. “Balcony. Got one hell of a view.”

She regained her composure and brought her eyes to the view he spoke of.

Erudite.

Their sophisticated buildings shined bright against the night sky brewing with a storm in the distance. A picturesque cityscape… that would serve as a perfect backdrop for what he had in mind.

She turned back to him with more questions in her eyes that she didn’t likely know how to properly ask.

She’d get her answer shortly. “Go on,” he said, jerking his chin to the door outside. “Take a look for yourself.”

She finally found her voice again. “What are you doing, Eric?” she asked cautiously.

“Showing you what you can have when you become a leader.” he answered obnoxiously, then clenched his jaw. “Now get out there.”

He half expected some resistance, but then again, she had nowhere to go. It would be wasted energy on her part. She was his for the time being.

And he wanted to prolong it as much as he could.

She tugged on the handle, sliding the door open and a gush of cool air breezed in. It was honestly quite refreshing. 

She stepped out and he followed her, closing the door behind him and she immediately looked over the railing to see how far up they were. “Is this how you’re going to do it? she asked. “Toss me over the railing?”

He let out a hearty laugh. “That would be too easy of an out for you.” He came up to her side and rested his forearms on the railing looking out at the view with her. “What do you see?”

She looked at him, totally puzzled. He liked that she couldn’t read him.

“Erudite.” she finally said. “The fence beyond that.” Then she found something closer in proximity. “There’s a factionless camp set up in that building over there.” she pointed to the east. “The train is heading toward us. So that means it’s 11:30.” She looked back to Erudite. “The second floor lights of the third Erudite building are still on, so they’re getting close to finishing a study in the biology department and don’t want to end the night without getting their answer.”

“Hmmm.” he hummed. “You picked that all up in less than 20 seconds. Imagine what you can observe if you spent the whole night out here.”

Her head whipped back to him. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"On second thought… why imagine when we can satisfy the curiosity?" he mused before his face went hard. "Get comfortable, smartass. It's going to be a long night for you."

Her pretty, grey eyes widened in disbelief. "What? You're out of your Goddamn mind." she stated. "You can't just  _ leave  _ me out here."

"I can't? Says who?" he laughed.

She didn't bother responding and began eyeballing the door behind him.

"You aren't seriously considering an attempt to get past me, are you?" he laughed harder.

He hoped she wouldn't actually give it a try. Not that he was afraid she'd get away. The skies would have to part and the hand of God come down to aid her in order for that to happen.

No. He didn't want her to try and physically involve him in her escape plan because one, he doesn't want to hurt her and two, if he did hurt her, she'd have to go to the infirmary… where Tiffani was… and he'd have to convince Fawn not to tell anyone that he had her in his apartment. That sure as hell wasn't going to happen.

She wisely threw the idea of getting past him to the side and frantically began looking over the railing and to each side for another escape route. "You're testing me, aren't you?" she said looking over the railing to their right. "You want me to figure out how to get out of here. Like some cruel lesson for me to learn not to get myself cornered."

He held the laugh in. "Not that I'd usually admit it, but you give me too much credit. The only lesson you're going to learn here is not to fuck with me. And search all you want. The only way you can get off this balcony is through the door, which you won't do, or with a ladder, which you conveniently don't have."

"And what's preventing me from using my  _ mouth _ and yelling for help?"

"Who's going to hear you? Take a look around. Do you see any other balconies?" He waved his hand toward the façade of the building. "And all the windows lead to rooms that are vacant at this time of night." He turned to go back inside. "I've been wanting to do this to an initiate for some time now. It's just that nobody's pissed me off enough to do it until now." He opened the door. "Believe me when I say I've had time to plan it out."

"Then I guess I'll just bang on the door all night to irritate the shit out of you." she snapped back.

_ This little bitch thinks she has all the answers, doesn't she? _

"You've got two options. You can stand there and bang on the door, shouting for help all night while I go sleep in my office on the other side of the building, leaving you completely alone. Or you can accept the punishment quietly and I stay here. You're going to need me to open the door for when you need to use the bathroom, aren't you?"

She snorted at him "Oh. You're gracing me with bathroom privileges? How kind of you."

"Well, if you don't want it, guess that means you'll have to hold it for 8 hours or smell like piss all night."

He stepped inside and she moved toward him. "Well then, I want to use the bathroom."

"Oh. Did I forget to mention that you get  _ one _ bathroom break? I suggest you use it wisely."

She looked as if he poked a hole in her and let all the air out. Completely defeated. 

"That's what I thought." he smirked as he began to close the door, then jerked his chin toward Erudite. "Looks like rain tonight."

She spun just in time to see a flash of lightning in the distance as he slid the door shut, locking it with a prominent 'click'

Then she turned back and he caught the anger in her eye just as he pulled the curtains shut. He needed to remove her from his sight so he could decompress. She'd be fine out there. She'd get a little wet from the rain. Probably a little cold, but she'd be safe. Hell, there was probably more room out there for her to lie down than those shitty cots in the dorms anyways.

She had to learn. She had to understand that he needed to get into each and every initiates head in order to build them into optimal soldiers.

Most of them were easy to control. Some gave a little resistance, but he just pushed those ones with more physical training and they usually broke in the second or third week. But this initiate was different. He saw the potential in her. He didn't need to train her to be a soldier. He needed to train her to be a leader.

Fawn as a leader meant a few things for not only Dauntless, but for him as well. First, it would mean he wouldn't be the only Erudite in top leadership anymore. Their pattern of thinking was the same. He was already pretty convincing on his own when he laid out the logic of cause and effect of each option they had on decisions they were facing. Having Fawn to reinforce that logic would mean they could come to decisions quicker and accomplish more. Second, she'd focus on the factionless problem. Her aptitude test results revealed that she had an issue with the growing number of factionless camps. He hoped to dig deeper into exactly what her concern was and see if it was the same as his. The rest of their leadership recognized the problem, but found other issues to be more of a concern. Having Fawn on his side might pressure them into taking the problem more seriously.

Plus, if she became a leader, that would scare off the vast majority of men who hoped to have a chance with her. Kallen included. There was something emasculating about hooking up with a chick that outranked you, let alone be able to end your existence with the snap of her fingers.

Which was probably why Jana was eyeing him so hard. The pickings were slim for her.

After about an hour, he decided to appease his curiosity and check on her. She hadn't made a peep and he almost wondered if she somehow figured out a way to escape.

If that was the case they might as well have handed the leadership position over to her now because even  _ he  _ couldn't get out of there without a ladder or rope.

He peeked through the slight opening in the blackout curtains and found her still there, gazing out to the city, leaning against the railing. The rain hadn't started yet, but the thunder and lightning were closer. A wayward thought wondered how safe she'd be on a metal balcony in the midst of a thunderstorm.

Meh. There was enough metal at the top of the building to direct the lightning there instead of to the vulnerable female on a 3rd floor balcony.

He watched her from the safety of the curtains. She seemed oblivious to his presence and he took the time to indulge himself.

He scanned her from head to toe. Every curve and dip. Each line and shadow. He could finally admire her the way he wanted. Her body was made for his hands. Fitting so perfectly into the curve of her waist. Those pants she had on accentuated the roundness of her hips.

That right there was the kind of body he could have some fun with. 

And if he read her right, she had the same thoughts about him. 

His overactive imagination had his gaze turning toward his bedroom. That rain was going to start at any moment. He wondered how appreciative she’d be if he brought her back into the comfort of his apartment once she was soaked and chilled to the bone. There were plenty of ways he could think of for her to show her gratitude. That cold, wet body wrapping around him in search of warmth and relief as they tangle in the sheets of his bed. Her mouth actually bestowing pleasure on him instead of testing his patience. His visions were so vivid, he swore he could taste her in his mouth. Which made another part of his body stir alive with intent.

His eyes moved down to the situation beginning to show at his crotch.  _ Don’t dig yourself too deep. _ He thought.  _ You won’t likely be able to pull yourself out if she catches on. _

He hated to think she could actually manipulate him by using his attraction to her to gain the upper hand. But then again, that spark in her eyes almost had him convinced that the attraction was mutual.

Movement in his peripheral vision had him looking back out at her. Her face was now tilted toward the sky and she flinched. The rain had started.

She moved her gaze to the top of the building, probably noticing the overhang of the eaves and stepped closer to the glass door, hoping they’d give her some type of barrier from the rain.

But as she came closer, her eyes met with his between the split in the curtains and he thanked the heavens above that they were drawn closed enough to hide what he had brewing in his pants. She froze for a few seconds until the rain began to pelt her and she shrunk into the corner to protect herself as much as she could.

An unfamiliar feeling squeezed in his chest as he watched her slide down the glass window and curled herself into a ball.  _ Ugh. Is this what sympathy feels like?  _ He did not like the feeling at all. And the longer he looked, the worse he felt.

He managed to pull himself away from the curtain and tried to rid the image of her suffering out of his mind.  _ This is what you meant to do. _ He reminded himself.  _ Now pull yourself together and follow through. This is for her own good. _

He should have been in bed by now, letting that drink he had down at the bar put him to sleep. But he couldn’t sleep. He was too wound up to leave the room.

Maybe he’d sleep on the couch tonight, just to keep an eye on her in case she tried anything stupid.

He went back to the balcony door and threw open the curtains. Thunder and lightning broke a second later. She hadn’t moved, still snug in her corner. Rain drops splashed on her exposed skin and rolled off in a wayward stream. She kept her head tucked and her eyes closed. Something deep inside told him that she was crying. He couldn’t quite tell and he wasn’t about to knock on the glass to get her attention for him to see. He didn’t know how to feel about it. Part of him wanted to see her breaking so he could bring this to an end, but another part of him wanted to see her push through and show him just how strong she really was.

He clicked off the light, then flopped down on the couch, facing the balcony and just watched. The calming sound of the storm proved a worthy adversary to his wakefulness, despite the gorgeous woman huddled on his balcony and his eyes began to flutter with the lure of sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

_ Tap. Tap. Tap.  _

The sound of a gentle knock on glass pulled him from his slumber. He woke half dazed in the dark, wondering why he didn’t feel the usual comfort of his bed.

_ Tap. Tap. Tap.  _ “Eric?” a muffled voice called, stirring him more to his senses.

He rubbed his face, remembering that he was on the couch… then remembered Fawn.

He jolted upright, finding her silhouette at the balcony door. Rain still fell behind her.

_ What time is it? _ He thought as he looked around and saw the illuminated clock on the kitchen wall. 3:30.

_ Holy shit. She’s been out there 4 hours.  _ Which meant he was out cold for 3.

More tapping on the glass. “Eric… please.” she urged.

He rose from the couch. The sound of her saying ‘Please’ gave him that ache in his chest so bad that he almost whimpered.

“What?” he asked through the door when he got close enough.

“I… I need to use the bathroom.” she said.

It was then that he noticed her whole body shivering.

“This is your only chance. You sure you want to use it now?”

She nodded, her chin quivering as she fought to keep her teeth from chattering.

He pressed down on the lock and pushed the door open. The air temperature was no longer refreshing. It was downright cold.

He took a long, hard look at her. She was soaked. Hair completely saturated. Her clothes that were already snug on her now clung to her body like a wet tissue. Rain rolled down her face and dripped from her jaw. Her body continued to shake uncontrollably.

He stepped aside and gestured her in. “You have 5 minutes.”

She took a step inside and he closed the door to keep the cold out. “Wh… Where’s the-”

He pointed her to the left. “First door.”

She quickly moved through the darkness of the apartment and flipped the light to the bathroom on just before closing the door behind her.

He looked down to where she had been standing and found a puddle. He had never seen a more sad puddle in his life. 

_ Maybe she’ll come out and say she’s had enough. Maybe she’ll finally concede and I won’t have to keep doing this to her… Maybe she’ll ask me to warm her up. _

What the hell was he thinking? He can’t give into feeling guilty… and he can’t continue to hope for physical contact. It was fucking  _ forbidden _ and he knew better than to give into his lust.

The faint sound of the water running enticed him to the bathroom door. Maybe she didn't want him to hear her while she did her business.

But after a few minutes went by with the water still running, he began to get suspicious.

He knocked on the door. "Time's up."

"I'll be right out." she replied, but the water continued to run. The sound of splashing put him on edge. 

_ What the fuck is she doing? _

" _ Now, _ Fawn." he ordered.

"Okay, okay. Just-"

He wasn't going to let her stall any longer and grabbed the knob, surprised to find it unlocked. He swung open the door, finding a scene he wasn't expecting.

She jumped back from the sink, steam rising from the running water. One of his large, grey bath towels draped over her shoulders like a blanket. She held a wet washcloth at the back of her neck.

She was just trying to get warm.

The towel fell from her shoulders and she pulled the washcloth from her neck. "What if I had actually been using the toilet?" she snapped.

He leaned against the door jamb. "Then you would have locked the door.

She shut the water off and picked up the towel. "Well, you never specified what I could use the bathroom for." Then, placed it on the counter.

He probably should have reprimanded her for using his personal items, but he couldn't. She looked so fucking pathetic standing there, still drenched and shivering, but refused to show the defeat on her face.

He folded his arms across his chest. "You know, we can end this right now."

She pushed a wet lock of hair from her face. "What's the catch?"

He shrugged. "No catch. Just tell me that you give up and you won't have to go back out there."

She shook her head. "I can't do that."

"Do what? Spend 8 hours confined in a small space, getting drenched in the rain? No. Not many people could do that."

"No," she said, clenching her jaw to keep it from quivering. "Give up."

He arched his brow at her. "You'd rather-"

"Yes." she cut him off.

He took a moment to stare at her. That damn ache of sympathy tugged at his chest. Did he really think she was going to back down? "No one else has to know, Fawn. It's not like I'm going to run around and blab to people that I had a female initiate in my apartment overnight."

There. He'd spare her the embarrassment of exploiting her weakness and he meant it. They would just continue on as they had been. Except he'd have a drastic upper hand on their game. And she'd have to work even harder to change his mind. But it would just be between them.

"I'm not concerned about anyone else. This is between you and me," she responded. "And to get to where I need to be, I have to go through you."

"People don't go  _ through _ me," he interjected. "They ask and I decide whether or not they can pass."

"Hmm. I see your generosity knows no bounds." she taunted.

Even though he knew she was going to end up on that balcony for the rest of the night, she still made it seem like she was the victor. Drove him fucking wild.

"Why do you have to make this so hard for yourself?" he sighed. 

"Why are you making it so difficult for me?"

"Because I need to see what you're made of. And every time you dig your heels in, I'm going to push you harder."

Their idle chatting was eating away at her time outside and he didn't know if it was because he wanted to keep her inside for his own greed, or if she was distracting him for the sake of staying warm and dry for as long as possible.

"And you aren't going to drag your feet any longer," he said as he stepped aside, guiding her exit. "If you aren't going to concede, then you know what you have to do."

She pulled her shoulders back and marched past him without another word, heading straight for the balcony. This time, she saw herself out, not even waiting for him to approach and force her out.

He sauntered to the door and casually locked it behind her. They stared at each other, through the glass as the rain continued to fall. Then, she spun away from him with what he thought was a dramatic flip of her hair and looked out to the city.


	15. Chapter 15

He was going to have to try harder than this to get her to bow to him. A night out in the rain? She could handle it. Her teeth were chattering and her body shook, but she wasn’t going to show him that she was broken. While she might have been stuck outside in the elements, she knew where she stood in their game. Meanwhile, he’d have to wonder all night if he’d gotten to her. She had the peace of mind and he didn’t. And that’s what this was all about.

She went back to the corner and tucked herself into a ball like she had before. She was sheltered from the majority of the rain, thanks to the eaves and the walls of the railing blocked the wind. Her hair still dripped, but the length of it kept her neck warm. Not nearly as warm as that washcloth did, but she’d have to make do. 

It was surprising how luxurious Eric’s bathroom was. Sparkling clean. Warm, fluffy towels. Hot water, not lukewarm like in the dorms, but actual hot water. She thought he’d get pissed for using his towels, but screw him. He was going to get the satisfaction of watching her suffer. The least she could do was leave him with soggy towels.

Just as she found a comfortable enough position to try and close her eyes for some rest, the door swung open again. She was hit with something plastic and pliable, then the door slammed shut without any conversation.

When she held up the object she was struck with, it unfolded and she realized what it was.

A tarp. A large, plastic tarp, big enough to cover herself with.

Her eyes moved to the window in absolute shock. While the room was dark, she could make out his figure watching from the shadows. He quickly moved away after a few seconds and she turned her attention back to the tarp. 

She scrambled to her feet and shook it out to see how big it was. Plenty large enough for her to lie down on and completely cover herself.

She didn’t know what to make of his gesture, but she wasn’t about to question it. She had herself tucked safely inside within seconds. The difference was night and day. No more rain soaking her to the bone. No more chilling breeze. And after a few minutes, what little body heat she was still able to produce, warmed her little cocoon to a level comfortable enough to ease her shivering. There was even enough tarp left for her to scrunch up into a ball and form a makeshift pillow. 

She was exhausted, wet and still a little cold, but it was enough of a break for her to possibly get some rest.

***

Sunlight suddenly shocked her from her sleep. The tarp wrenched away from her grasp as it uncovered her head.

“Get up.” Eric ordered, tugging on the tarp hard enough to unravel her from her warm pouch.

The force of his yank sent her flipping and rolling from the tarp to the wet, metal floor. Soaking her almost dry clothing in the water that accumulated in the creases of the tarp overnight.

Eric balled the tarp up, then threw it into the corner of the balcony. “I said get the fuck up, Fawn!” he now shouted.

She thought about kicking his knees out while she was down, but quickly abandoned the idea. He was wide awake. She wasn’t. It wouldn’t end well for her.

She managed to pull herself to her feet, raking her disheveled hair from her face and adjusted her clothing.

“You look like shit.” he grumbled as his eyes moved about her. “You’ll fit right in with the factionless.”

“Good thing you prepared me by leaving me out here overnight like some abandoned animal.” she snapped back.

He pointed to the door. “Get inside,” he said through his teeth. “I don’t need your bullshit this morning.”

She marched inside, glad to be finally done with his stupid, little experiment and headed for the door to leave the apartment.

“I didn’t tell you that you could leave!” he shouted to her.

Fury rose in her. Now what was he going to have her do? Make him breakfast?

She spun to face him. “What, Eric? What now?” she questioned. “What’s the next bout of torture you’re going to slap me with?”

He surged toward her. “Have you forgotten just who the fuck you’re talking to?”

She swallowed her annoyance and took her usual, soldier-like stance. “Forgive me. I’m a little  _ testy _ in the morning.” she sneered.

“You’re not going anywhere until you make yourself presentable. Dauntless don’t look like they spent a night in the sewer.” he pointed toward the bathroom. “Go take a shower. I don't need you distracting the rest of the initiates.”

She looked toward the bathroom, then back to him in disbelief. Her? Showering in  _ his _ bathroom? “This sounds like a setup.” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. “Why can’t I shower in the dorms?”

"Because I can't take the chance of you running your mouth about what happened last night before I get a chance to set the story straight."

"You mean you don't trust me?" she mocked innocently.

"You're damn right I don't."

“Well, I don’t have anything clean to wear.” she retorted.

“ _ Appropriate _ clothing will be provided,” he said, looking her up and down. “You can’t train in  _ that _ .” he nodded at her attire.

This son-of-a-bitch was going to do everything he could to make sure she didn’t speak to another soul before he planned out his alibi.

She folded her arms across her chest. It was then that she realized her skin was still cold to the touch. He had riled her up so much that she hadn’t noticed the state her body was in. 

“So what’s the story going to be?” she asked sharply. “I have to go along with your lie to cover your ass or I get booted to the bottom rank, or I go without eating, or whatever else kind of punishment you’ll dole out to me, right?”

“Let’s not go pointing fingers. You and I both know I caught you doing something that you weren’t supposed to be doing last night.  _ And _ you deliberately ignored my direct order to stop. We’re both bound to this, so don’t give me your shit.”

She heaved out a heavy breath. The asshole was right. If he knew the actual specifics of why she was in that hall last night, he probably  _ would _ have thrown her from the balcony. A female initiate romantically involving herself with a Dauntless member was a practical death sentence. “Fine.”

He approached and grabbed her by the elbow. She was used to it now and the gesture didn’t even feel like a threat anymore. It was just… something he did. 

He pulled her toward the bathroom. “You got lost last night and went to the roof to get your bearings. The door locked behind you and you got stuck up there overnight.” he pushed her into the bathroom. “I heard you yelling for help once the storm died down and I brought you in. Got it?” He paused, but not long enough for her to respond. “Good. You have 10 minutes.” And with that, he exited the bathroom and shut the door behind him, leaving her alone.

She stood there for a second, confused. He was most certainly an asshole. There was no doubt about it. But, in his own strange way… he was being…  _ nice _ . He might have made up some excuse as to why he did what he did. But the tarp? An entire 10 minutes to shower as opposed to showering in less than 5 with tepid water at best while a hoard of male eyes try to peek past the barriers of her friends? 

She looked at the counter. Fresh, dry towels and a neatly folded pile of clothing. Then, she looked at herself in the mirror.  _ Yikes. No wonder he wanted me to clean up. _ She looked like a wreck. She felt it too. A nice, hot, private shower was just what she needed.

She ran the water to warm up as she stripped down. Her skin felt raw from the wet fabric rubbing at her chilled flesh all night and caught a glimpse of her unclothed body in the mirror. She hadn’t seen the reflection of her naked self since before she left Erudite.

While there wasn’t much of a physical transformation yet, she noticed how she held herself with more poise. Pride. Confidence. Maybe that asshole out there really  _ was _ making a difference in her.

_ Ugh. Don’t even give him the credit in the privacy of your own thoughts. _ She scolded herself, then stepped into the steaming shower.

She actually made an audible moan at how fantastic it felt. Hot water. Decent water pressure. It was heaven. But, she knew it’d have to be short lived. 10 minutes went by fast when you were enjoying yourself. And the last thing she wanted was Eric barging in before she got a chance to finish. 

She immediately felt vulnerable at the thought. Vulnerable for the obvious reasons: a naked, defenseless female in the shower of some overbearing, dominant male. But, her emotions and desires were vulnerable as well. A darker, more carnal feeling took over her. For as much as she hated his mind games and smug superiority, his brilliance and power turned her on like nothing else could. Not to mention just how physically attractive he was. 

She was beyond terrified last night when he threatened to send her chopped up bits to her father’s lab, but from the way his eyes moved down her body and he shamelessly devoured the sight of her tits, she knew he had other things on his mind rather than sending her to her doom.

The most fucked up part of it all was that she’d have given almost anything to have him replace that knife with his tongue.

She continued through her shower, now hating herself for allowing the indulgence of such ridiculous fantasies. Besides, she was in this position because of her interest in another man.

***

Despite the warmth of the shower and the fresh, clean clothing and the chalky tasting meal replacement bar that Eric forced her to eat, she felt like shit. Weak. Disoriented.

She contributed it to her lack of sleep and hoped her willpower would be strong enough to get her through the day. Because for as much as she wanted to show Eric he hadn’t beaten her, she couldn’t find the strength to give it her all.

He brought her directly to the training room, getting there before the rest of the initiates. Jana and Brice were there though and halted their conversation when they saw her enter with Eric following closely behind.

"Make yourself useful and polish the knives." he ordered, pointing her toward the table near the targets.

Whatever. Just as long as she got some space from him. 

She began to walk away, but felt his hand grab at the back of her oversized shirt and yanked her to him. She lost her balance as she stumbled back, but his other hand reached out to steady her and he mumbled in her ear. "Not a  _ fucking _ word other than what I told you. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir." she said, not allowing Jana and Brice to see the usual attitude she gave Eric while they were alone.

He released her with a shove. "Go." he said and made his way over to the other two leaders.

"What the hell is  _ that _ all about?' she heard Jana ask as she moved further toward the targets and away from the leaders.

A few moments later, she heard Jana erupt with laughter. "She  _ what _ ? What a dumbass!"

Fawn rolled her eyes, not even bothering to look their way. Fanfuckingtastic. Not only was Eric constantly on her ass, but now Jana was going to ride her for some idiocy that she didn't even do. 

She focused on her knives, buffing them to a shine. She thought of Han and how masterful he was at his skill. It must have taken years of constant, grueling practice to become what he was. He, like everyone else, had started at some point at the bottom and worked his way up. She would be no different. 

_ Let Eric try and break me. Let Jana poke her fun _ . She’d already shown Eric that she had more grit than he expected. And she knew Jana’s weakness for Eric. All they had was power. Power could be taken away at any moment. But she had  _ knowledge.  _ Knowledge they couldn’t take away. And that was a power in it’s own right.

The training room door opened and a flux of initiates came in.

“Everyone line up.” Eric shouted and Fawn abandoned her position near the targets, coming to the line of bodies.

She found a spot between Nadia and Ainsley, who both had their eyes on her. They knew better than to speak while a leader was speaking, but their looks said enough. They wanted to know where the hell she was last night.

“You will all complete your physical training as a whole today, then you will break off into your ranked groups,” Brice said. “You are expected to know the drills, how many reps of each and be able to finish within 60 minutes.”

Jana stepped forward. “This is not only a test on your endurance, but it will show us how well you take to orders and determine your focus. And do not think for one second that we aren’t watching every move you make. If the rep is 15, you do 15. Not 14, not 16. 15.”

Any other day, Fawn felt she could accomplish the task with time to spare, but today was different. For as much as she wanted to make headway and build her strength, she couldn’t dig deep enough to find that surge of energy. She knew it was there. But it felt like a wall had been put up to block it. She hoped that nasty bar Eric gave her to eat would kick in soon and fuel her through this.

“Well get fucking going!” Eric yelled.

The workout was brutal. She managed to still stay within her tier during the run, but the bear crawls made her dizzy. She stumbled at the bags. The tunnel vision came while she did her situps and pushups.

_ Please don’t pass out. Please don’t pass out. _

Normally, she would have taken the time to watch the other initiates and scope the competition. But, she couldn’t concentrate on that, keep herself from blacking out and maintain her rep count all at the same time.

Remaining conscious and counting her reps took precedence. 

“You!” Jana shouted and began marching in her direction.

_ Shit, What did I do? Did I miss a step? Miscount a rep? Fuck. She looks pissed. _

Fawn continued her routine, hoping Jana was just trying to mess with her. That is until the leader blew past her and came to a stop at the initiate behind her. Shane.

“That was 14 pushups, initiate. Not 15.” Jana criticized. “You thought I wouldn’t notice?” she turned away from him and addressed the entire group. “We have our first offender! Congratulations, Shane. You’ve just lowered your ranking two spots.”

_ Phew. More reason to keep your focus, Fawn. _

“The next initiate that fucks up will be demoted 5 spots.” Eric added.

2 more initiates either lost their focus or didn’t think they’d get caught and were swiftly given the demotion they were warned of.

Somehow, she managed to complete the drills with 5 minutes to spare and was sent to take a breather with the other initiates who had finished while they waited for the final bunch to wrap it up.

She propped herself against the wall to keep from toppling over. The tunnel vision had increased dramatically and despite her sweating, her skin turned cold. She could literally feel the color draining from her face

“Fawn?” Nadia asked from her right and reached out to hold Fawn’s shoulder up. “Fawn, are you okay? You’re white as a ghost.”

She tried to stand straight at her friend’s touch. “Yeah… Yeah, I’m f-… I’m fine.” she managed to whisper as her vision dimmed more.

But, she wasn’t fine. She was going to pass out and there was nothing she could do about it. Her legs gave out and her body slid down the wall as she heard Nadia yell for help just before everything went black.


	16. Chapter 16

A harsh breeze blew across her face. Then, it came from the other direction with a gust. It made an eerie howl as it jostled her about.

The blackness she saw began to flash with light as the howling wind seemed to speak to her from all directions.

“ _ Fawn. Fawn, wake up. _ ”

Her eyes fluttered, catching glimpses of figures, large and small. The tenuous sound of her name being called came from the one closest to her. “ _ Come on. Wake up. _ ”

Her head was moved about and her consciousness began to stir. The figures became more detailed and the one nearest to her was crouched at her side, a hand gently grasping at her jaw, easing her awake.

The voice was familiar. Then, the eyes of the figure came into focus. Cool, icy blue. The voice and the eyes matched.

Eric.

She flinched once she regained consciousness and tried to scramble back, away from him. A crowd was formed around them, all looking down at her and she wanted nothing more than to escape. She tried to push herself back more until her shoulder hit the wall, then tried to get to her feet with no luck.

Nadia came into view. “Fawn, calm down. It’s okay.”

Eric’s hand came to her shoulder, but this time he didn’t yank her around. Instead, he held her still. “Stop,” he said firmly, but in a lower voice. “You’re going to make it worse.”

She finally stopped fidgeting and took a few deep breaths. “I’m fine.” she managed to say and tried once again to get to her feet. There was no way in hell she was going to allow herself to look weak in front of him or anyone else.

He ordered everyone back. “Move. Get back to your training.” he barked at them and let her pull herself up as she used the wall as leverage. His eyes watched her every move with caution.

“She doesn’t look too good.” Tresta said from behind him.

He quickly spun to the blonde just as Fawn got to her feet. “What did I just say? Get the fuck out of here.”

“Sh- she just wants… wants to make sure I’m o...okay.” Fawn slurred. Only to feel her legs give out again. She braced her hands on the cool, cement wall, trying to hold herself up, but it was no use. Her arms were just as debilitated as her legs and she began to slide back down the wall, this time feeling the roughness of the wall chew at her skin.

But a pair of hands reached out to catch her before she crashed to the floor and held her to the wall.

“Alright, you’re going to the infirmary.” Eric concluded. “Can’t be having this shit.”

She tried to wiggle from his grasp to no avail. “I’m fine. I just… need a few minutes.” she breathed. She couldn’t miss any training. That would surely knock her down in the rankings. Although, she had no idea how’d she’d be able to continue without getting some help.

“If you can’t stand on your own two feet, how in the hell are you going to go back to training in just a few minutes?” he lectured. “Look…” he released her and she kept her balance for a whole three seconds before she began to sway. They both reached out at the same time. Him clutching her waist and her grasping at his biceps to maintain her balance. Their eyes met and she swore she saw a slight glimpse of compassion.

“Ugh,” Jana grunted from behind him. “She looks greener than the slime in the gutters.”

“I’m going to take her to the infirmary.” Eric grumbled. “She can’t even fucking stand. It’d be a waste of time to try and train her with anything today.”

Jana eyeballed her and snorted. “Serves you right for locking yourself out last night. Maybe next time your curiosity strikes, you’ll do us a favor and wander off the Chasm ledge.”

While Fawn may have not had the strength or the focus to take a swing at Jana, she never wanted to do it more than at that very moment. Instead, she eyeballed Jana right back, not letting the bitch think that she could intimidate her.

“Alright, let’s go.” Eric said, shrugging Jana’s comment off and wrapped an arm around Fawn’s waist, pulling hers up, around his shoulders for her to hold herself up.

Even though her legs were moving, she felt weightless as she staggered alongside him through the training room and out into the hall. For as strong and rough and aggressive as he was, the arm he had around her was gentle and protective.

It was the first time they’d ever made physical contact without him being an aggressor.

She couldn’t handle the thought of how attracted she was to him at the moment. She could barely walk or speak without assistance. Something was definitely wrong.

“What did you do to me?” she muttered.

He stopped walking and pulled her away so he could look her in the eye. “What?” he asked, looking genuinely insulted. “You think I meant for  _ this _ to happen?”

“I wouldn’t put it past you.”

“Maybe if you weren’t wearing something so skimpy last night, you would have had enough clothing to keep you insulated.” he retorted.

“ _ Skimpy? _ ” she asked with momentary strength. “Have you seen some of the shit these girls run around in?”

“They run around in clothes like that because they want something in particular. And if any man would have stumbled upon you alone last night, they would have assumed the same about you.”

“Assumed what?” she demanded, feeling her anger mixing with the inability to hold herself upright. “That I’m some kind of fucking slut?" She pulled away from him, not caring if he was the one holding her steady or not. “What I had on was modest compared to what your so called ‘soldiers’ wear on a nightly basis,” she stumbled back to the wall, still unphased by her shakiness and snickered. “Even your little buddy, Jana.”

She was so dizzy, but she was even more pissed off. She wasn’t going to let him turn  _ his _ mistake around on her. No matter if it meant him leaving her there on the floor for someone else to stumble upon.

He grit his teeth and grabbed her arm as she began to teeter, then swept his other arm behind her, scooping her up. “I can’t wait for them to fucking sedate your ass.” he growled and lumbered down the hall with her cradled in his arms.

She tried to squirm out. “Let me go. I can walk.”

“You can’t walk. You can’t even stand. And the faster I get you to the infirmary, the faster I get you out of my sight.”

She stopped wiggling and looked him dead in the eye. “Then why were you the one to bring me? Anyone else in that training room could have done this.”

His jaw twitched as it tightened. “Because I don’t trust you.”

She almost laughed at him. “You don’t trust me? Even after I let Jana degrade me for some bullshit story you made up so you wouldn’t have to explain why you had a female initiate in your apartment overnight?”

He let out a growl from between his teeth. “I swear to God, Fawn… If you don’t shut the fuck up…”

She went to continue giving him a piece of her mind, but she was struck with a sudden throbbing in her head so severe that it rendered her speechless. All she could do was let out a tiny whimper and squeeze her eyes shut.

He didn’t say another word until just before he kicked the swinging doors open to the infirmary. “We’re here.”

Fawn squinted at the bright light that did nothing for the pain in her head as an older woman scurried over to them. “Eric? What happened?”

“Get her a bed. She can’t stand.”

He was led into a smaller room and he gently placed her on the bed.

The woman leaned over her, thankfully blocking the direct light. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Fawn Remington.” Eric said before she had a chance to answer.

“Well, what happened?” she asked, looking more concerned than Fawn would have liked to see. 

Eric spoke up once more. “She collapsed during training and-”

“Shhh!” the woman hushed him with a wave of her hand. “Stop. I need to see how coherent she is.”

Despite the pounding headache and disorientation, Fawn concluded that she liked this woman.

“I passed out after we finished our drills.” she said, shading her eyes from the light.

“Did you eat anything this morning?” the woman asked as she pulled out familiar looking medical instruments. Thermometer. Blood pressure reader.

“He gave me a meal replacement bar this morning.” she said, nodding in Eric’s direction.

The woman looked confused. “A stability bar? Those are reserved for the soldiers recovering from shock.” Then, she turned back to Eric. “Why would you give her one of those?”

“Because she spent the whole night outside in the rain.” Eric snapped. “She looked like death warmed over this morning.”

“Outside? Last night?” the woman repeated, turning her attention back to Fawn as she placed the thermometer on her forehead for a temporal reading. “It was in the lower 50s last night. What on Earth made you-”

“I got locked out on the roof.” Fawn said, not even bothering to look at Eric. “I got lost wandering the halls and went to the roof to get my bearings. The door locked behind me.” She moved her hand further over her eyes, hoping the woman would get the hint that it was way too fucking bright in there and peeked through the gap between her fingers.

The woman tsked at her. “You should have been here first thing this morning.” Then she turned to Eric. “She’s mildly hypothermic, Eric. The last thing her body needed was to be pushed through training. She’s lucky she didn’t have a stroke.”

“She took a hot shower and I gave her dry, suitable clothing, Mary.” he defended. “I made sure she got the appropriate nutrition. Besides, she said she was fine.”

The woman, who apparently was named ‘Mary’, rolled her eyes and looked at the thermometer reading. “You’re smart, Eric. But you aren’t a doctor…” then moved her gaze to Fawn. “ _ Neither _ of you are doctors. It’s not up to you to say whether or not you’re fine.”

"Spare me the lecture." Eric grumbled. "I got her here, didn't I?"

"And now she's going to have to stay here."

"For how long?" Fawn spoke up, peeking out from under her hand.

"Until your vitals return to normal and we can get your strength back," she scribbled a few notes down on a clipboard. "I'll have Tiffani monitor your blood levels throughout the day and hook you up with some fluids."

Eric shifted his stance. "Is that all really necessary? She can’t afford to miss any training."

Mary rose from her seat and moved over to a cabinet, unlocking it with a key that was attached to her lanyard. “In order for you to have a strong army, you need strong soldiers.” Then, she pointed back to Fawn. “Does that look like a strong soldier to you?”

“No. Which is precisely why she needs to get back to training as soon as possible.”

The doctor pulled out a small bottle full of pills and slammed the cabinet shut with a bang. “If you would stop breathing down my neck, I could get this done a lot faster.” She opened the bottle and spilled two pills out into the palm of her hand. “What are you still doing here anyways?”

He just folded his arms across his chest.

Mary handed the pills over to Fawn. “Here, sweetie. Take these. Your head must be pounding.”

_ Finally. _ Fawn quickly took the pills and downed them with some water Mary drew from the faucet. “Thank you.” then, laid back and shut her eyes.

There was a slight pause before Mary spoke again. “Oh. I see what this is.” she said, drawing out her sudden insight.

_ What ‘what’ is?  _ Fawn thought as she peeked through one open eye.  _ Am I missing something here? _

“What in the hell are you talking about?” Eric snapped. “There is no ‘ _ this _ ’.”

“Of course there is. You want to make sure your reputation isn’t tarnished.”

The statement intrigued Fawn enough to open both of her eyes. Did Mary somehow know what really happened last night and knew Eric was sticking around just to make sure Fawn didn’t yap?

Eric sighed. “I would just prefer if you would take care of this for me.” he said as if he were almost negotiating with her. Then he moved his gaze to Fawn. “This initiate isn’t to be trusted.”

What a dick. Even after she had the chance to blow his cover, she still remained loyal to his orders. Yet, he still didn’t trust her. She opened her mouth to question him, but Mary beat her to it.

The woman practically laughed in his face. “You can’t be serious. This little thing that can’t even stand or hardly keep her eyes open is a threat?” she looked to Fawn. “No offense dear, but with the state that you’re in, I think a 5-year-old would be able to hold you down if you tried to get away.”

“Her physical strength isn’t the concern.” he muttered, leaving Mary to figure out the rest.

Despite her discomfort, it was a proud moment for Fawn. He actually admitted to someone else that he respected just how dangerous she could be.

“ _ Ahhh _ . That's right. Another Erudite," Mary's smile widened. "I was wondering what could be so important about this particular initiate that you'd risk coming in here."

Risk? What would Eric be risking by coming into the infirmary of all places? Apparently, him bringing her here, himself, was a pretty big deal.

“I’ll take care of her today, Eric.” the doctor said in resignation. “But you owe me.”


End file.
